You Either Die A Hero
by theycallmespitfire
Summary: Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way. How far can you go before losing everything?
1. Prologue

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 _'I thought this city would be a perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything. Turns out, life's a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means, hey, glass half full, we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So no matter what kind of person you are, I implore you: Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. '_

Felix Reynard turned the TV off, rolling his eyes. The bunny's speech reached a popularity on par with Zebraham Lincoln's 'four score and seven years ago...' Martin Lemur King's 'I have a dream'. Some fan filmed it, put it on Ewetube and it went viral over a few hours. Both prey and predator loved her despite her mistake because she was one of the rare mammals who acknowledged she was wrong and sought to fix the problem. Naturally, Judy Hopps became a celebrity, an icon and a hero seemingly overnight.

Well. Her and Nick Wilde, of course.

He had to admit, he never thought Nick had it in him. Not the cop part, although that in itself was a little hard to believe. But he would have never believed that Nick would have ever even befriended a bunny, let alone become her partner.

He's heard the rumors, of course. All around Zootopia, everyone only spoke in praise regarding the ZPD's dynamic duo. Not only did they get the job done, they had the closest friendship anyone's ever seen. And some even expected more.

A little research and he even found that there's an entire fanbase dedicated to them not only as friends, but as romantic partners. Pictures taken in stolen shots, fond gazes when one of them wasn't looking, sly and flirtatious smiles even if they were, constant hugs and high-fives...overall, it was the kind of thing that could have easily been described as sweet.

Others say that their friendship alone is ground-breaking enough: living proof that prey and predator can not only tolerate each other but maybe even love each other, platonically or romantically. Socialists often used the two misfit officers as prime examples of a new era in Zootopia's society.

Felix sighed. Everywhere he looked, it was as if he couldn't escape that cheerfully naive smile of that bunny and Nick's cool grin. He picked up The Zootopia Times only to find yet another article on the terrible twosome. This one was something about Zootopia's crime rate decreasing by 20% for the past two years, and many mammals are saying it's all thanks to-one guess as to who that was.

There was a direct quote from the bunny in there: 'It's flattering that some think that, but really, the decreased crime rate is a combined effort of not only Nick and myself, but of my fellow officers at the ZPD and of course, the citizens themselves who have turned away from a life of crime.'

And another quote from Nick, which was marked as a joke in between paranthesis, 'And you know, now that they know a fox is on the squad, they're too scared to try and hustle any of us.'

Felix chuckled and kept reading, but the article pretty much said the same thing everyone else these days kept saying: life is getting better, little by little. And although they deny it, the bunny and the fox had a huge impact on it. What began as a simple drop by mentioning that two naturals enemies solved what was known as Zootopia's great conspiracy slowly turned into a ripple effect until mammals started questioning what they thought they knew. After all, if two natural enemies could be friends, what does that say about everyone else? Is forgetting your prejudice really all that simple? Is learning to love really that easy?

Overall, most mammals were filled with hope and pride at the sight of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

Most, but not all.

The government could call it whatever they wanted: progressive, modern, tolerant. Felix knew it what it truly was. Disgusting. Unnatural. Wrong. Now, he could already hear the protests against his beliefs. Claims that he was ignorant and living in the past, as this generation claims it.

This generation...Felix has seen disrespect before, but he believed that this generation seemed to take it too far as they seem to reject almost everything that what was considered to be law: homosexuality and interspecies relationships were now allowed, sexual confidence in both sexes was beginning to be celebrated rather than being shamed, feelings were not considered a real branch of science and the weak mammals who were too afraid to speak or to be around other people could now use the excuse that they have a mental condition...There were so many rules now, restricting everything they were once capable of.

Once upon a time, there were no rules. No social conduct needed to be respected, no tolerance of these perversions...Way back before they used to put shock collars on predators. No, this was during the time when predators ruled and it was the prey who served and feared them. A time when mammals knew respect. They didn't need to be taught it. They just knew it, learned from experience. Deep down in their instincts, prey knew they were inferior. Respect and power was once earned through who was the strongest and most powerful.

A world where a mammal like Felix Reynard could reign free. No more stares of suspicion. No more rules that would tell him what he could or couldn't do. No more limits. No more problems.

 _And no one to stop me._

"Hey, Boss, you got a minute?" a voice interrupted his train of thought. With the rough voice that sounded like he had been smoking and eating shards of glass for breakfast, Felix knew that the voice belonged to Ralph Canisson, a coyote who's definitely seen better days. When Ralph was younger, he was the fastest runner in his high school. Had the ladies falling to his feet. Now, he was a high-school drop out who pays child support for a kid never sees and a life he would give anything to erase. These days, however, he was doing better. Much, much better, all thanks to Felix himself.

Felix answered with a friendly smile and welcomed him with open arms, "Sure, pal. What do you need?"

"To be honest, I don't really need nothing." Ralph admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "My kid, however..."

Felix raised his eyebrow. "What's wrong with little Tracy?"

"Well, my girl's super bright, you know? Always getting them As and all. Kate's been talking about sending her off to them big schools and all, the fancy private ones. And I can't afford that yet with my salary, so-"

"You want more jobs, is that it?" Felix finished for him. Ralph's eyes widened. Felix could see his fear, and while he enjoyed knowing he could inspire fear in a mammal twice his size, he's slightly offended that Ralph believes Felix would ever be cruel to him.

But if Felix was offended, he never showed it. Instead, he took a great big sip of his mug and he waved his paw as if it were nothing serious, "Jeez, Ralph, the way you're acting, you'd think I was Mr Big or something. Calm down! I may be your boss, but we're still friends, right?"

"R-Right..." he stammered, giving out a nervous laugh. Ralph wanted to agree with him, he really did.

"And as per your request, what have I been telling you?" Felix asked, "Pretty soon, every school from Zootopia to Japawn will be begging to have us predator in their school. It's just a matter of time!"

"I know, boss, I know, it's just that...well, me and the guys have been wondering, how soon is exactly a 'matter of time'? 'Cause my girl's not getting any younger, you know? I don't wanna be making her promises I can't keep like tell her she's going to be in a fancy rich school when in reality she's gonna stay in that sad excuse of a school in Happytown." Ralph said, more than he wanted to.

At that, Felix pursed his lips. "'You and the guys'?"

Ralph nearly hit himself, realizing his mistake, "N-No, I mean-"

Felix held his paw out. His voice was still kind and friendly, like he was just having another friendly chat. But Ralph wasn't stupid. And neither was Felix. "Listen here, Canisson. I made you a promise. I made you all a promise that things would change soon. That your Tracy and my son and everyone's children and we will have better futures. Now, have I ever made a promise I can't keep?"

The moment Felix saw Ralph's eyes widen, he knew that he had him there. Ralph was a panicky sort of fellow. It was sad to see what might have been a strong predator become so meek and nervous. He had so much potential, too. But potential or not, he had to know his place.

So before Ralph could answer Felix, he began to make a list: "When you came to me in tears, patches of fur ripped from your body, black eyes still swollen from that beating, shaking and trembling from the unforgiving rain and half-dead from lack of food, did I not take you in? Did I not give you a place to live, food to eat, a job to earn money?"

"Of course you did, Mr. Reynard! I-I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"And when you told me what those disgusting horses did to you, stealing your drugs from you, the only way you could make a living because no one would wanna hire a coyote, then beating you so you wouldn't squeal, did I not send someone to...rectify the situation?" Felix went on. His tone remained the same. But each word was said with more impact, more passion, that it was like beating the memory of his gratitude into the coyote.

Ralph wanted to answer. At first, he was willing to plead his intentions, but slowly his ears drooped and he began to feel shame. Truth is, he hasn't exactly known Felix for that long. But in the short time that he did, he did manage to do things he never thought any mammal could do. Ralph was just lucky that he stumbled into Felix's little pack when he did. It was thanks to Felix Reynard that Ralph could afford to even give Tracy that new phone and talk to her once in a while. And here he was, demanding more, as if he was entitled to it all.

At the sight of the drooped ears and the silence, Felix nodded, taking that as a confirmation that his friend understood.

"Exactly." Felix nodded, "Now, you know as well as anyone that the wheels are turning as we speak and it might take sometime before seeing the result, but did I not promise you that it would be worth it?"

Ralph nodded this time. He was afraid that his words might betray him.

As for Felix, he once again gave that friendly, award-winning smile and patted his shoulders. "Well, then don't worry! If I tell you something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen!"

 _Guess a raise or more jobs is outta the question then..._ Ralph thought bitterly. Although to be fair, Felix Reynard was a good man and he has helped him through some dark times. He couldn't expect Felix to solve all his problems for him, now, could he?

Ralph quickly thanked him and was ready to leave as soon as possible. But at the last minute, his boss called him again and Ralph stopped in his tracks. Fear struck all over again and he was sure that the boss could probably smell it at this point. He walked back, afraid of what he might say. What Felix Reynard did say, however, did surprise him.

"I admire your efforts, Ralph." he finally admitted.

"...Sir?"

Felix then grabbed the newspaper on his desk. From here, Ralph could clearly see the headlines about that crime rate decrease thing and, of course, the infamous 'Wildehopps', as his daughter started to call them. For a while, it almost seemed like Felix was looking at the newspaper with a certain fondness in his eyes.

"You tried, not for yourself, but for your family." Felix clarified, "There is nothing more admirable."

"I...thank you, sir." Ralph finally said. Sure, praises from his boss weren't exactly rare. In fact, he's never had a boss praise his employees so much. But this one was different. This one felt genuine. Like a personal compliment, not a compliment on his work.

It was at this moment that Ralph decided to ask something no one's really ever asked the him, "Do you have any family, sir?"

Felix looked back at him, soft smile still on his face. "Yeah...yes, I do. But I haven't really seen any of them in a while."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that, sir." Ralph said, his answer just as genuine. He may be able to talk with Tracy, see her updates on Furbook and share pictures, but it still leaves a hole in his heart that he was never truly there with her. He can only imagine what the poor fox must feel.

Just before the serious feeling could sink in, Felix looked confident and happy once again, "And you know what? I think it's high time for a reunion. Starting with my son!"

Ralph smiled, "Yeah! Good on you, boss!"

Felix nodded. Ralph soon left him to get down to business. Good news is, by telling Ralph a little something private, he'll probably think he's a lot more special than he is. After all, why else would the boss share something so intimate with a simple worker? So, he probably won't ask about any more jobs, try not to push his luck and be a lot more compliant the next time Felix needed him for a job.

But it's not like he was lying. Felix did plan to see his son again. But it wasn't because of some kind of epiphany inspired by that fool coyote.

So Felix looked at the picture in the article one last time, scrunching his nose. He immediately set his mug down, its size completely blocking the rabbit, focusing solely on Nick Wilde.

* * *

 **AN: So, originally this started out as a 'List of Things I Want in Zootopia 2' that sort of expanded into a full-fledged fanfiction. I loved Zootopia and I loved the clever way it introduced racism and prejudice to children yet can also still teach even older viewers a thing or two. I loved how creative and unique it is and I believe that the same has to be said for the sequel, although I do admit I want the sequel to be a tad darker than the first one. What I have in mind for this fic in undoubtedly too dark but there are some mature themes I want to get across.**

 **Now, who exactly is Felix Reynard? Well, as you can probably tell, he's Nick's dad. And you can probably smell conflict coming a mile away. But as to how it's gonna go down, well, you'll just have to see.**

 **Next chapter, we'll join Nick and Judy once again and see how their relationship has evolved overtime!**


	2. Chapter 1: Nothing's Impossible

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Nothing's Impossible**

 _I want to take the step that seems too far_  
 _Then we'll get the chance to find out who we are_  
 _If it rains, it pours, but we keep pressing through_  
 _Nothing feels impossible with you_  
 _Two dreamers in hot pursuit_  
 _When we set our sights it's absolute_  
 _And I feel like we could make it all the way_  
 _Nothing feels impossible today  
_

-'Impossible' by Aviators

In a darkened corner in Happytown, Shenzi Sniffs waited at the top floor of what used to be the Happytown Inc. Back when predators used to reign over prey and Happytown was an actual town you could be happy in, this place used to be the big deal. It was the equivalent of the Lemming Brothers Bank today. Today, it was just a sad symbol of the pride lost and of what once was.

In a way, Shenzi found it very ironic that most of her 'drop-offs' were in this place. Most people avoided the building like the plague because of those rumors it was haunted. Others avoided it because of the real reason: they knew people like Shenzi hung around here.

Everyone was in relatively high spirits these days, or at least that's what the media would tell you. At that, Shenzi scoffed. She didn't care about numbers or by how much crime went down. At the end of the day, she and her brothers were still doing dirty deeds to get by end's meet. So what if one predator who was once from Happytown suddenly became a hero? That didn't mean shit for the rest of them.

Speak of the devil, Shenzi could suddenly hear pawsteps in her direction. When she turned on the light on her phone, she raised it only to have shine on the one and only Nick Wilde.

"You're the delivery boy?!" Shenzi sneered and immediately grabbed the gun that was tucked in the back of her pants. "Do you think I'm that stupid! You're working with the feds, kid! You're that fox cop!"

Indeed. He was Nick Wilde. But did he look like the hero Nick Wilde from all those posters and magazines and articles? Nope. Far from it. He looked like a cheap, hustler-imitation of that fox. Even though she recognized the face, it wasn't an immediate recognition because he was out of his uniform and in a dirty old hoodie, the kind most mammals around here wore. No one wears bright colors in Happytown. Bright colors made you stand out. Bright colors make you easier to remember.

But it wasn't just the clothes that made him look so different. The Nick Wilde she saw in newspapers always stood confidently: shoulders back, chest puffed and a confident smirk on his face. But this fox had his shoulders hunched and no expression on his face but one of fatigue, it seemed.

Nick snorted, clenching his fists, "Didn't you hear? They fired me."

"Of course they did." Shenzi pointed her gun at the fox, fully expecting him to draw a gun and reveal a badge. But he would be long dead before the badge would reach the air.

But he didn't. When he moved, all he did was take off the hood that covered his face and Shenzi nearly dropped her gun at the sight of him. She's seen some shit before, but this...he looked like he's been mauled or beaten with every inch of his life. Both of his eyes were swollen and black, there were scratches on his neck and face and he walked with a slight limp on his left paw.

" _Look at me_! _Does it look like I'm lying?_! I gave everything to that damn precinct. Hell, I gave everything for this city! But the moment I told them just _how_ I knew so much of Happytown's crime, they decided that they didn't want a former con-man on the team even though I gave it all up!" the fox yelled. Shenzi tried not to cringe at his anger, at his frustration. If she didn't know any better, she almost thought he looked positively savage.

"Yeah, right, and that _bunny_ of yours didn't stand up for you?" Shenzi said skeptically. She doesn't know why she didn't just run. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was pity. Odds are, it was probably both.

"You mean the bunny that once blamed drugged predators for their actions?" Nick spat, "Yeah. Real hero. Lots of bunnies joined the ZPD. So wouldn't you know it? The moment Flopsy gets a new sidekick, I was expendable. 'The ZPD takes care of their own', my tail..."

Shenzi was speechless. Though perhaps deep down she really wasn't _that_ surprised. That Mammal Inclusion Initiative was getting more and more mammals involved in police work. The bitterness in his voice just seemed so real, it was difficult not to believe him. As for whether or not the cops beat him, well, all she knew was that during that Mayor Bellweather fiasco, the ram cops were corrupted and found guilty. She wouldn't be surprised if there were more.

"Rough, kid. Rough." she could only say. What else was there to say? She lowered her gun slowly, still keeping her eye on the fox, who in turn looked at his paws in shame and sadness.

"Anyway...all that taught me is to just remember business is business. Got through my old contact for some work and well, the rest is history. So, tell me: where's the stuff? If I don't get back to him, I'm not getting paid and I'd like to actually have enough to at least buy some band-aids or something."

This time, Shenzi really did cringe, trying not to stare at those claw marks on his neck. "Ah. Right." she answered, then dumped an entire bag of midnicampum holicithias at his paws.

The fox bent down and took a look at the contents. He scrunched his nose when he saw them, "Are you trying to hustle me? These aren't night howlers, these are onions!"

Shenzi rolled her eyes, "Night howlers don't always look like flowers, you idiot. The onions are what they look like before they become flowers."

"How poetic." Nick drawled and Shenzi rolled her eyes. "Whatever, fox. Do you have the money?"

Nick reached into to the back of his hoodie slowly. Naturally, Shenzi expected him to bring out a wad of cash. Instead, she stared at the barrel of a gun pointing right at her.

"Shenzi Sniffs, you are under arrest for supplying illegal substances and-" Nick never got to finish as Shenzi decided that she could run for some reason. Oh, well.

Nick fired, but the tranquilizer never hit Shenzi and he had to be careful because he had a feeling that the gun she was carrying didn't have sleeping darts in it. But luckily for him, Shenzi didn't react well under pressure and certainly didn't aim well. As soon as she got far enough, she shot behind her, never bothering to look if she was hitting anything at all, let alone the lying fox.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ she chastised herself, falling for some sob story. _You never trust a fox!_

A lesson she learned too late as she ran down the stairs from the building. She was a fast runner, such a trait was required in her line of work, but she had no doubt that the fox probably received some training and would soon catch up to her. That is, of course, unless she actually did hit him. Which even she doubted. So she relied on her night vision and quickly ran as fast as she could down the rusty stairs. The building was so old and has been broken into so many times that Shenzi couldn't help but focus on the strong scent of mold, fresh spray-paint, drugs and blood.

Fortunately, that was enough to distract her from the bunny waiting behind a desk near the exit, allowing her to shoot the hyena with a dart, making her fall face-first.

And so the last thing Shenzi Sniffs saw was the feet of a rabbit and the tail of a fox who slowly walked right beside her. As the dart took its effect, Shenzi couldn't help but laugh. These coppers think they just nabbed themselves another dealer.

 _They ain't got no idea what they're up against..._

* * *

On the other side of the spectrum, Judy Hopps was having a relatively good day. A job well done on her first day back from her little break was always a good start back on the force, especially when it showed that she didn't lose her edge.

The tranquilizer wasn't exactly strong, so the hyena woke up after five minutes, hand-cuffed and in a police car. It was Nick's turn to read the criminal their rights, so Judy was left behind for a while as she secured the perimeter along with Francine.

"I gotta hand it to you, Hopps. It was a good idea to send Nick in there with that police brutality sob story." the elephant complimented.

Judy beamed at the compliment, but attempted to shrug it off, "Nick did the work. I just thought of it, that's all. Most criminals in the Happytown district will always believe anything if you tell them that the police wronged you one way or another."

"You know, I was skeptical when Clawhauser said he could paint realistic wounds using make-up, but I guess watching those tutorials online really paid off." Francine nodded in approval, "But Wilde's black eye is real. I remember seeing it earlier today at the bullpen. How _did_ he get a black eye?"

Judy tilted her head, pretending to think about it, "Hmm..."

 ** _Two days ago..._**

 _"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Roger Hopps asked, pulling the white bedsheet over his head._

 _"Oh, come on, guys, where's your sense of adventure?" Thumper, one of the more rebellious ones of the litter, was a lot more excited than his older brother, leaning against the door to his sister's room._

 _For you see, Nick had this brilliant plan to scare Judy today and seeing how a lot of her siblings were mischievous, it only felt fair that they, too, tagged along. "It's Howloween! And it's not Howloween unless we scare the heck out of Carrots!"_

 _The group giggled as Nick slowly turned the doorknob. He would have thought that the flaw in his plan was Carrots' excellent hearing, but then he remembered that she was a heavy sleeper. Years of practice thanks to her noisy neighbors. The fox was covered in white powder and was followed by several other bunnies dressed as vampires, ghosts and zombie brides._

 _When he reached Judy's bed, she was sleeping soundly, curled up on her side as she always did. For a split second, Nick resisted the urge to stare at her. He noticed her blanket had fallen a bit lower than usual and it caused her cold, so he reflectively pulled it up until the blanket covered her entire body. Now that he thought about it, a pointless action given the prank._

 _Remembering said prank, he turned to his new partners-in-crime and smirked, "Ready?"_

 _As soon as they all nodded, Nick counted to three with his paw and as soon as he reached the last finger, they all screamed at the same time, "BOO!"_

 _"AHHH!" Judy screamed, first reflex was to kick the intruder as hard as possible in the face. Unfortunately, the closest one was Nick himself._

 _"OW!"_

 _"...Nick?"_

 _ **Present Day**_

"...No idea." Judy shrugged innocently, holding the evidence in her paws and eyeing it with both fear and curiosity. When she was a child, all she could think about is how pretty these flowers were. Granted, she never thought of eating it. And even so, eating a night howler in its flower form would only result in temporary effects as opposed to the more permanent ones that it offered in its drug form. But now, what was once a harmless pesticide was a terrifying weapon that could destroy Zootopia.

At least, it used to. But ever since the cure and vaccinations were found, these things were pretty much useless if you shot them at someone. So Judy's question was...

"I don't understand. This is the fifth night howler bust we've had this month. Why go through so much trouble just to get these again?"

"Copycats who don't read the news enough to know they're useless?" Francine suggested.

Judy shook her head as she threw the evidence in the car, "Doubt it...no one would risk so much on something they didn't do some research on."

"Wouldn't worry about it too much, Hopps." Francine waved it off, "Heard rumors you can get a pretty serious buzz with those night howlers if you mix it with the right stuff. Won't make you go savage, but it'll leave you feeling like a million bucks."

"Yeah, well, if you've ever been to Bunnyburrow, you'd know that a million bucks is actually a lot more irritating than you think." Judy drawled in her turn, "I've heard conspiracy theorists say that they give you superpowers like Spider-Mammal."

"Ha! These people will believe anything." Francine laughed, "Whatever it is, we stop them and to me that's good enough."

The elephant simply left it at that as she went back in the building to see if there happened to be anymore seedy characters in it, leaving Judy to her thoughts. Stopping the bad guys seemed to be good enough for most mammals on the first. But for Judy, it wasn't enough to stop them. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was all connected somehow. No doubt she was going to investigate them.

"Carrots, the gears in your head are turning so fast I can hear them from there." Judy smiled as she heard her partner's voice behind her. They've done this so many times before, but it never ceases to amaze how good Nick was at this double-agent/undercover role. From the drastic change in his body language to the voice he used, it was simply incredible. Gone was that ridiculous hoody and hunched pose and angry look in his face. To him, it was as simple as turning a switch on and off.

"You know, if you weren't such a good cop, you might have made a pretty good actor one day." Judy suggested.

"Well, one of us has to have some acting chops or need I remind you your elementary school play?" Nick grinned, and said grin got even wider when he saw how Judy groaned and slid her ears over her face.

"I really, really, _really_ wish Mom hadn't shown you that..." Judy moaned.

Nick chuckled at the memory. It was, in truth, one of his fondest memories. While the majority of the Hopps family were more than welcoming, he had his fair share of troubles, namely with Stu Hopps himself.

By the end of the ordeal, Stu had acquiesced and admitted that Nick 'wasn't the worst mammal out there'. Nick liked to think it was because he was so darn charming, but really, Bonnie Hopps believed that it was because Nick taught Stu how to beat that cheating weasel with a few card tricks.

But Nick took what he got and long story short, everytime he visited the Hopps, he would be greeted by a warm hug by Bonnie Hopps, followed by Stu who merely groaned in mild annoyance while Nick hugged him and called him 'Dad'. But eveyone knew Stu's annoyance was merely for show at this point, as evidenced by the regular care packages now for both Judy and Nick.

Still, right before they left Bunnyburrow, Bonnie thought it would be hilarious to show him a taping of Judy's play. And looking back, Nick realized just how completely happy he was at that moment.

What he truly remembered was the sight of Judy embarrassed, curling up to the side of the couch and burying her head on the couch cushions in an attempt to hide her face. Like the many times Judy had been embarrassed, it had been beyond adorable, although he would never say that out loud.

And Nick being Nick only made the situation worse by pinching her cheek and pointing at the TV and saying, "Look! You've still got the same chubby cheeks!"

Judy just thumped her foot against him in some pitiful attempt to kick him. Honestly, she was just pouting at this point. Little Jilly Hopps, who Nick suspected was probably Judy's favorite sister although she would never say it out loud, gave her sister a big hug.

" _I_ thought you were cool, Judy!" Jilly promised. Now, it didn't help that Jilly looked exactly like Judy when she was her age: same violet eyes, same nose, same face shape. The only difference were their fur color, Jilly being a cream-colored bunny. Judy laughed and hugged her sister back. But seeing Judy, who Nick already thought was criminally cute, hug what appeared to be a littler version of her was just...

 _Stop. Nothing should be that adorable._ But apparently the power of cuteness was overpowering, because Nick couldn't resist and mimicked Jilly's gesture, immediately hugging Judy too, "Aw, don't worry, Carrots, if it makes you feel any better, I was about as cool as you were when I was a kid."

Just like that, it caused some kind of a ripple effect, until all 275 of Judy's brothers and sisters came in for what must have been the world's largest group hug ever. He could have sworn he also saw Stu and Bonnie try to join in.

And, okay, at first Nick felt fear for his life as he saw a future where he would suffocate under all that fluff. And yet, there was something oddly comforting about that single moment.

"Well, you two may not have been cool _then_ , but you are now!" one of the only three siblings older than Judy, Peter, assured.

"Yeah, you and Nicky are like superheroes!" little Mimi Hopps, in her last year in elementary, promised, her eyes awestruck.

"It's been a year and everyone still asks us if they can come over when you guys visit!" high-schooler Roger said proudly.

It ended with Nick laughing. For Judy and Stu and Bonnie and Jilly and most bunnies in Bunnyburrow, such an act would be ordinary. Something that would probably be lost and forgotten in the sea of the memories in their lives, replaced by what they would believe to be more exciting and important, because this day was just like any other. It was such an innocent moment.

But it was the innocence in that moment alone that made it so memorable in the first place. In a world filled with hustles and tricks and every single mammal with a hidden agenda, Nick Wilde had witnessed a simple, but meaningful gesture that didn't have any ulterior motives to it, other than to make an older sister and her outcast friend feel better.

And then he realized the person who hugged him first was, ironically, Judy herself.

And she knew. Don't ask him how, she just _knew_ how he felt. She also knew he would never say it out loud, so instead, she just smiled and hugged him tighter.

Before Nick knew it, he could feel himself smiling softly. A smile that was neither his trademark smirk nor his cheekish grin. A smile only she had ever seen.

But there was a chance she didn't see that, right?

 _Who are you kidding? She totally saw that._

Nick came out of his little daydream as soon as he realized the change: that memory was in a humble, safe little home in Bunnyburrow. But now, here they were, in the middle of Happytown during the night, their first arrest. Don't get him wrong, Nick loved his job. But it was because of his job that he appreciated the little things. Or more specifically, it was thanks to a certain someone that he even had things to appreciate.

"Hey, Judy." he began, and because he used her first name, her ears perked up, "About what I said back there-"

"It's okay, Nick." Judy interrupted with a smile, "I know you were only saying those things for the act."

Nick sighed in relief. She knew. Of course she knew. She knew him better than anyone and she was pretty logical for an emotional bunny. "Good. Because you know I'd never think that, right? That you were against me in any way?"

"Of course not, Nick." Judy reassured, "And I know you wouldn't do that to me, either."

Nick nodded, but his ears were still down for a moment too long. On one hand, Judy thought it was sweet how Nick cared so much for how she felt about these things. On another, she wished Nick would be more confidant in their relationship about it. They don't lie to each other. That's probably one of the most important aspects of their relationships. Nick has hustled a lot of mammals and even Judy has done her fair share of manipulation, but they don't play tricks to each other. Together, they were real. It was an unspoken rule that they would remain to do so.

So Judy waited her cue. Before Nick could overthink this and become a little too sad, she quickly grinned and began to walk away, "Well, now that that's a job well done, I'd say we call it a day-"

"Not so fast, Carrots! You owe me dinner for _this_ little present!" Nick said, pointing at his eye, "That's police brutality right there, I could have reported you!"

"Hey, you're the one who decided it would be fun to scare me!" Judy protested.

"And my face! You ruined my beautiful face!" Nick cried dramatically, making Judy roll her eyes.

"Hmm. True. I ruined _a_ face." she grinned, making Nick clutch his chest painfully, "Ouch. You wound me, Carrots. By the way, my tie?"

Judy looked down at her chest and remembered that she kept Nick's tie on her. It became tradition Judy to keep the tie whenever Nick had to go undercover. Don't ask her why. It's bad enough he still wore that tie on and off duty. The first undercover mission, instead of putting it in the car like he did with the rest of his clothes, he just gave it to her and said 'don't lose it'. Judy never questioned the meaning behind it, though if she had, she may have been sadder to know the real reason behind it. The only reason Nick ever gave was that it 'matched her eyes', which didn't exactly sound like an actual reason but she never pressed him for details, finding it to be a quirk or habit.

She laughed as she loosened it and tied it around him instead. Also another habit but one that Judy never noticed, she would always be the one to tie it back. She never did notice Nick freeze everytime she stood that closely to him, or how the other officers who just happened to be around grinned at them.

So they walked down to that twenty-four hour diner most cops often went to in the Rainforest District. As cops, they get a 20% discount, but as the faces of ZPD, Nick and Judy got 40% discounts from the owner.

"Here you go, kids." Catarina, their usual waitress, smiled as she brought over their food.

"Cat, we haven't ordered yet." Judy noticed, a little surprised.

"Really?" Cat smirked, "So you two weren't going to order a cricket burger and a veggie cheeseburger with a medium-sized carrots-and-crickets fries mix on the side, a blueberry milkshake and a carrots and strawberry smoothie?"

Judy opened her mouth, but said nothing. Nick only laughed as their friendly waitress put the meals down, "You know us too well, Cat."

The black cat laughed, "Alright well, enjoy your meal, lovebirds."

Nick snorted and Judy replied with her usual 'not lovebirds!' as they both dug into their meals. Surprisingly enough, the fries were always meant to be shared between the two of them, but Judy would always end up eating more of the cricket fries than the carrot fries.

"Judy Hopps loving cricket fries." Nick chastised playfully, shaking his head in mocked disapproval, "My, my, what would Daddy Hopps think?"

"Well, as a bunny who became a cop and is best friends with a fox, I think that my dad is pretty much over the shock of having the most untraditional bunny in the world."

"You've got a point there…you know, I'm still surprised about how much has changed since I met your dad." Nick mused, thinking of the cringe-worthy incident where Stu could barely say 'nice to have you here' without cringing.

"He certainly has changed since I was a kid." Judy agreed, "But hey, if he can change, then so can a lot of mammals."

"Well, Carrots, if anyone can make anyone change, it's you." Nick said with a kind smile, which Judy returned. In all honesty, she never believed that _she_ changed Nick. She believed that the mammal he was now was the mammal he had always been, should have been, if society had not been cruel to him. To her, he was living proof that mammals are good deep down and it only takes the right event or attitude to show it.

And yet, something seemed missing these days. Now that he had mentioned her dad, Judy's thoughts flew to her own family. She had remembered how happy he was. It was crazy how easily a fox fitted into her family, but the little ones adored him, the older ones admired him and her parents had wanted to protect him as if he was one of them. Not that he seemed any less happy now, but then she thought of Nick's family.

Nick's mother, poor thing, was in a nursing home. All in all, Wendy Wilde loved Judy and she loved Nick. At least, when she was sane. Here and now, Nick would get calls from the home, asking him to come over after his mom had an episode. These episodes usually involved night terrors. Nick never knew what they were about and most doctors, if they did know, never told him. These night terrors would have poor Wendy thrashing on about, screaming, hitting anything or anyone that came close. When she woke up from them, she would spend an hour or two on her own, staring into the walls. Nick would sit next to her sometimes, chat with her idly, wondering if she ever heard a thing he said.

Fortunately, as soon as these episodes ended, his mom would be her usual chipper self, acting as if nothing had happened. Any attempts to ask her what exactly she saw in her dreams the night before would just result in her smiling and saying she doesn't remember, and if she doesn't remember, then it must not be important.

So that brought Judy to another thought: Nick's father. All she, and Nick, for the matter, knew was that Nick's father left when he was barely old enough to remember what he looked like.

Wendy never wanted to talk about his father. She even went as far as to keeping her maiden name to make sure Nick never tracked his father down. When Nick was younger, that drove him crazy. He felt like he deserved to know about his father. But now that he's older, he knew that his mother loved him and if she didn't want to talk about his father, then it was probably for a good reason.

But she saw that look in his eyes whenever anyone said the word 'dad' or 'father'. She saw how his eyes lingered whenever he saw a father and son playing together in the park. She saw how quickly he changed the topic whenever his own father came into question.

"You know, speaking of dads and change…" Judy began, putting her thoughts into words, "You are a cop now. More resources and all…have you ever considered finding out what really happened with your dad?"

Nick's fork stopped in mid air, and he himself froze for a while. When faced with an uncomfortable situation, his instincts would immediately kick in and he would revert back to his safest bet: never letting them see that they get to you.

"Madam, are you suggesting that I use my resources as a cop for my own personal gain? I am shocked!" he said with an over-the-top laugh.

But while Judy let some things slide from time to time, this wasn't one of them. She wasn't stupid. She knew why it meant so much that her father approved of Nick. She knew why Nick only smiled that certain way around her family.

 _Of course, she never notices that he smiles that way when he's looking at her and she doesn't knnow._

Regardless, all Judy Hopps ever wanted was to make the world a better place. And what kind of cop, no, what kind of friend would she be if she didn't make her best friend's world as great as it can be?

"Nick, I want you to be happy." Judy said softly, putting her paw on his arm, "Actually, I want you to be more than happy. And sometimes, I feel like no matter what happens, not knowing what happened to your dad will always leave this huge hole inside. You need some kind of closure and I think once you find out what happens, you can move on somehow."

"Happy, huh?" Nick asked, "What makes you think I'm not happy now? Come on, Carrots, I've got a nice apartment, good friends, a great job, but best of all, I've got you. I mean, what more could I ask for?"

Judy smiled. She had no doubt that he probably meant it, but she also knew he was saying these things to divert her and throw her off.

"Are we really going to pretend this doesn't bother you?" Judy asked.

"Even if it does, which it doesn't," Nick insisted, "I've moved on! I accepted that my dad is a jerk who left my mom to raise me on my own. I'm good, Carrots, really!"

"But what if he's not a bad guy?" Judy proposed, "You said it yourself, your mom never talked about him. Maybe there's a story there, maybe there isn't, but all I know is before you make your mind about someone, you should know every fact first!"

Nick sighed. He knew very well that she wasn't going to let this go, so in some way, he acquiesced. They both dropped their forks at the same time, knowing very well that they were going to have a serious discussion, and Nick dropped his little charming charade.

"Okay, let's put this in a worst case scenario: what happens if I do meet my dad and he's every stereotype of a deadbeat dad? He's rude, he's mean, he's careless, he probably never even thought about the family he abandoned and when I meet him, we'll go through that awkward movie moment where the dad says 'you're not my son!' and the sad son runs crying and says something mean and angry."

"Or let's put this in the best case scenario: your dad may be the greatest guy ever, who has a valid reason for feeling. Finding work or something like that. You'll meet him, talk to him then it turns out that he's been looking for you, too, but he's always been scared of meeting you because he's afraid that you'll still be mad. But you two will talk because you're both civilized adults. He'll tell you his reason for leaving and you'll forgive him. He'll tell you how proud he is that you're a cop and a hero now, and you two will love each other and you won't ever have to feel sad anytime someone talks about fathers!"

Nick gave a sad smile. Oh, how beautifully ideal Judy's best case scenario would be. In a perfect world, that would be the scenario they'd go for. Of course, in a perfect world, Nick's dad would have never left in the first place.

That was a common saying, wasn't it? 'Do something now and even if it fails, at least you won't have any regrets in the future'? Nick had another way of looking at it: the way he saw it, if you didn't try, at least the 'what if' in your mind always left possibilities. You could dream up beautiful outcomes of what might have been and the harsh reality would never slap you in the face and say that's impossible because you've never tried to see if it was possible in the first place. There was some kind of optimism in never trying, if you looked at it from his twisted point of view.

But, of course, Carrots was on the opposite side of the spectrum: if you miss out the chance of seeing a harsh reality in favor of a nice dream, then you'd never know if that dream could become a reality itself. Truth is, Judy was a lot stronger than he was, sometimes. She could get hurt and move on. But Nick doesn't know if he can ever bounce back after knowing the truth...

So after what seemed like a million years later, he asked softly, "And what if the worst case scenario is right?"

Judy bit her inner cheek and tilted her head, pretending to think. But after a second or so, she finally answer. "Well, then, you'll get a dumb bunny who will admit she's wrong, but will be there with you every step of the way to make up for her mistake."

Nick smiled at her and realized that she was right. Whatever happens, if it does turn out that looking for his dad was the worst mistake he'll ever make, he'll always have her by his side no matter what. And even if he does go into a downward spiral of emotional and literal depression, he knew that he would never stay in it for too long because he had Judy. Somehow, facing his worst childhood fears and going on some kind of suicide mission that he's been dreading all his life seemed less impossible with her around.

 _God, Carrots, what would I do without you?_

"Alright. If I promise I'll look into it, will you let this go?" Nick suggested.

Judy's ears perked straight back up, "Deal! Start investigation tomorrow?"

Her smoothie cup rose to the air for a cheers and Nick nodded and clinked his milkshake's cup with hers, "Deal."

And he meant what he said, he was going to look it up tomorrow. Mostly because he knew that if he didn't, then she would do it herself.

Yes, Judy's intentions were pure. Oh, but how could she have known? How could any of them have known the considering the reality of what was to come, they would be left wishing that the 'worst case scenario' was the real one?

* * *

 **AN: So, chapter summary: two years has passed, Nick and Judy just came back from a little vacation where they visited Bunnyburrow and they've busted the fifth night howler dealing this month. What's with the sudden rise in night howler deals? No one knows. Judy convinces Nick that solving his daddy issues will make him happier and bada bing bada boom, you got your Chapter 1!**

 **I must admit, I was curious to see how I'd write Nick and Judy. I wanted to write them in a way that showed they were comfortable with each other, yet some things are still off-territory. The question of Nick's dad is one of the last secrets they have from each other, minus another huge secret that will of course be revealed in due time. The song presented earlier in this chapter is by Aviators, which used Zootopia as an inspiration for the song. I love it and I think it fits well with Nick's point of view in regards to Judy and one of my Zootopia 2 Wish List is to have said song in the ending credits, as it really is a lovely song and I highly recommend listening to it.**

 **On a side note, this does contain a reference to my favorite Zootopia joke: Lemming Brothers Banks. LEMMING BROTHERS. How can you not laugh at that?! Being an econ major, it's the kind of joke I thrive on.**

 **In fact, Zootopia's full of quirky little jokes like that no one really notices at first. I'm curious: what was your favorite subtle joke? And on a more story-wise matter, what do you think of Nick and Judy's portrayal? Any advice? Any subjects you'd like to see them tackle? Let me know!**


	3. Chapter 2: The Deer and the Lion

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Deer and the Lion**

In general, finding a long lost parent was a long and arduous process. You had to have enough money to hire a detective, said detective would have to be competent enough to find leads and those leads may lead to a dead end or to another lead and so on and so forth.

But when you're a hero cop at the ZPD who gets to pull a few strings because some mammals owe him favors, well, the process is a little less grating and quicker but no less difficult. So, during their simple patrol to Happytown, Nick and Judy took the opportunity to visit Nick's old neighborhood and asked around, expecting to find out a little more about Nick's little mysterious past.

The result?

Dead ends, dead ends, dead ends.

Nothing but vague memories. People said he was a nice fella, seemed very smart and well-spoken and was handsome enough to charm the prettiest girl in all of Happytown. All anyone knew was that the very intelligent Wendy Wilde actually had an offer to go to Foxford University in Londog, she wasn't exactly swimming in cash so instead, she worked as a modest pharmacist. She wanted to major in Chemistry and it was the closest thing she could find at the time.

In fact, Judy felt like she found out more about Wendy than she did Nick's father. A name. That's all they needed, really, a name. Just one name and they could match up the species and they could find him easily.

But as it turns out, even the name felt impossible to find. It was as if Nick's father was every bit of a hustler as he was, changing names like he changed shirts: Nick's neighbor swore his name was Philip, then his mother's former boss could have sworn it was Victor then the local doctor said his name was Bob. In short, if Nick's father didn't want to be found, it was like he couldn't have done a better job. A part of Judy secretly wanted to chastise the little town for not even bothering to question something as simple as a name.

"This is Happytown, Carrots, they don't care about your name as much as they do about whatever you can do to bring cash." Nick reminded her.

She wasn't happy about it, but that didn't make him wrong.

"There's gotta be some official record we can find off him! Are you sure you've never heard a name?" she asked.

Nick shook his head, "Let's try Philip. I'm pretty sure his name starts with a 'fff' sound."

Judy sighed. They were grasping at straws here, but they didn't have much of a choice here.

 _Some cop you are...you can uncover conspiracy theories and political plots but you can't even find your best friend's family._

"I'm sorry, Nick. I didn't think it would be so hard..." Judy apologized.

Nick shook his head, "Hey, Carrots, this isn't your fault. You're a lot more upset about this than I am."

"I know, it's just that...well, I really thought we were going somewhere." Her ears drooped.

"Yeah, but these things take time, even for cops." Nick reminded her. Judy's ears were down and her lips were still pursed as they always were when she was displeased about something. If anything, it was kind of cute how she worried so much over something that was more for him than anything.

Unable to handle himself, he put an arm around her shoulders and held her close in a semi-hug, "Aw, come on, Carrots, cheer up! Tomorrow, patrol'll probably be somewhere else. We could check there."

"You know, I'm starting to think your dad wasn't actually from Happytown. Maybe he..." But before Judy could enter that 'think-and-talk-out-loud' phase, she stopped when she noticed that Nick's footsteps slowed down until he was finally in front of a certain building and stared at it, jaw slightly dropping, eyes wide and ears falling.

"...Nick?"

Nick immediately shut his mouth, but try as he might, he couldn't answer her. It was like the mere sight of the door had him paralyzed. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear a young fox crying.

 _'No! What did I do wrong, you guys?! Please! Tell me what did I do wrong?'_

"Nick!" Judy said, squeezing his arm and snapping him right back to reality. "What is it?"

Her voice had been full of concern for him, but whether she realized it or not, her paw was ghosting over gun. It suddenly occurred to Nick that that simple action wasn't unfamiliar to him. She did it very often. Anytime she felt like danger was near or she needed to protect someone or something, she would reach for her tranquilizer gun and was prepared to defend anyone.

Despite himself, a chuckle escaped him. The first noise he made since he saw that damned door.

As Nick would say, 'the gears in Judy's mind' started running, until she made a connection: Nick only looked like _that_ when he was scared. A quiet Nick was a serious Nick. There were few things Nick could ever be serious about and one of them was that despicable event that happened when he was younger.

And given how they were in Happytown, where he spent most of his childhood...

"Oh, Nick..." she said softly, "Is this-?"

"It's okay..." Nick immediately said. Then he found himself pleasantly surprised, "Huh...it really is okay."

And weirdly enough, Judy believed it. The closer she looked, the more Nick almost seemed...amused by the whole thing, evidenced by that smirk that slowly quirked on the corner of his lips. Nick looked back at her and noticed how she may have believed him, but was still demanding an explanation.

"It's funny." Nick said, "I've never felt so low in my entire life as I have when I was here before."

It was a sad story. But there was no sadness in his voice. It was almost as if he was filled with mirth, in fact, like he was seconds away from delivering the punchline to a joke.

And if anything, it confused Judy.

"And that's funny because...?"

"Because how do you feel everytime you see Gideon Grey and that jerk weasel and your former classmates and all of those mammals who told you that you were never going to be a cop now?" Nick began, waving his hand, waiting for her to finish the punchline.

And Judy imagined it. All those times she was told she was crazy. In elementary, how patronizing the adults were. High school, the snickers of other classmates when they talked about the 'delusional Hopps girl'. Even when she first came to Zootopia, those who claimed she was just some token bunny, not a real cop.

But now look at her: first bunny cop. Face of the ZPD. Has solved twelve great cases in the past two years. Saved Zootopia and in some cases, the world, many times. Now she's an idol for many, and it's thanks to her that many bunnies, including her own brothers and sisters, that they're all willing to try everything to be who they want to be.

And now she imagined it from Nick's point of view: once upon a time, he wanted to help people. He wanted to be part of a pack. And they told him that no one would ever trust a pred.

...And the very same little boy grew up to be ZPD's first fox cop, saved Zootopia countless times, even inspired a few of his fellow criminals to go straight, proved that you can change if you try hard enough and was now a hero to both prey and predator.

So did she find it funny in an ironic way? Yes. Yes, she did.

And so, a smile slowly crept in her face and before she knew it, a laugh burst out. She put her paws on her mouth in some attempt to keep her laughter in, but the more it thought about it, the sillier it seemed. Words and experiences that once haunted them now seemed like a bad dream. A movie starring a bunch of silly kids who never knew what they were talking about.

But it was when Nick himself started laughing hard that Judy's laugher followed immediately right after.

And around them, they got stares and glances. What could have been so funny that it had a fox and a bunny laughing so hard that one of them was wiping tears from their eyes and the other leaned against the wall, leaning as he clutched his stomach? Of course, some thought they were just insane. Others recognized the faces of the ZPD and were suddenly curious as to what had them laughing so.

If anyone asked either one, they couldn't really tell you. It's not even one of those 'you had to be there' kind of things. It was a 'you had to have lived it' kind of thing. There was a delicious irony as they proved their childhood demons wrong. But look closer, and you'll notice there was even some kind of tears of joy there. Both of them knew they had changed, but it is only now, as Nick Wilde stumbled onto the place where he lost all hope, that he realized to what extent how different he was now.

So, what exactly inspired the laugh? They were just _happy_ , insanely happy, because they realized their dreams came true. No, no, that wasn't enough. Their dreams came true and they received so much more than they even knew they wanted. And really, how many mammals could say the same?

After the laughter had died down, they still found some strength to walk back to their car. Before Judy started the engine, they just sat and stared into the streets of Happytown, not really thinking of anything in particular. Just enjoying the moment after a huge spike in euphoria.

"You know, I can hear the gossip blogs now: ZPD's hero cops now insane!" Nick finally said after a while.

Judy giggled, "If Bogo asks, we'll just tell him that it's an old picture taken from when we got hit with that crazy laughing gas from the Jackal Napier case."

"Hmm. Sly bunny." Nick praised.

"Dumb fox." Judy joked.

All they did was drive for twenty feet when the sound of a desperate scream shocked them into their cop mode. When they turned their heads, they saw a lion desperately chasing after a car.

"Stop that car! They took my son!"

Both Nick and Judy sprung into action. Judy stepped on it and pursued the black car, driving frantically enough to almost hit a few pedestrians. Thankfully, this was right before rush hour, so the streets were relatively deserted and safe.

Nick squinted, and he could see a young fawn screaming at the backseat window and pounding against the glass. In a split second, the fawn fell down, disappearing from his view. Nick thought he saw another figure other than the fawn...either way, he feared the worst and quickly grabbed his communicator to call it in.

"Vehicle pursuit in Happytown headed for Tundra Town! Car is a black Afura with the license, suspect seems to have kidnapped a young fawn but the car has no license plate, I repeat, no license plate!" Nick quickly called, but fell backwards as Judy swerved right. This was bad. They were heading towards Tundra Town and the icy roads were no place for a car chase!

"Shoot the tires!" Judy yelled. Nick took out his none-tranquilizer gun and tried to aim as he sat on the car's window. Now, Nick was fairly good at aiming but as they head further into Tundra Town's territory, the icy roads were making it difficult to drive at this speed, causing him to have to alternate between maintaining his balance, not falling off the car, and shooting the quick tires.

They were never going to make it this way.

Unless...

Nick quickly looked at his surroundings. They were quickly headed to the center of Tundra Town. Only one of those exits led away from Tundra Town other than the one they just came out of and the criminals would, of course, never think to go back. But Nick recognized this place. Knew it like the back of his hand. Heck, he even knew places officials didn't thanks to...

"Carrots! Go left after that stoplight!" he said.

"Left? And lose them?!" Judy yelled.

"Just trust me, go left!" Nick said, sliding back inside. Unsurprisingly, Judy swerved left as he requested, with the criminals going right to the only exit away from Tundra Town.

"Alright, Slick, what's the plan?" Judy asked.

He didn't say a word yet, but just as Judy was going to demand an answer, his paw reached out to hers on the wheel, "Stop here! We need to get out!"

"What?" Judy said, but obeyed nonetheless. Even after two years, she still found herself questioning her partner's oddball plans. But if she had to guess, she knew that he probably knew something no one else did.

They both jumped out of the car and Judy followed as Nick began to run to an alley. It was a seemingly dead end, just an alley with a dumpster. "Help me push this away!"

Judy wanted to ask 'why' and say that they were losing precious time! But complaining would probably lose more time, so she followed him and pushed the dumpster away, revealing a sewer hole, which Nick quickly opened, "Get in!"

So Judy climbed down, Nick following her and closing the sewer hole. As soon as they got down, Nick began to run and Judy quickly followed, this time, he finally revealed his thoughts, "There's a shortcut in these sewers that lead to the tunnel right after Tundra Town's exit! We should get there before them!"

"And _how_ exactly do you know about this place?" Judy couldn't help but question, although she had a hunch that she probably knew how.

"This was one of uh...Mr Big's ways of getting around without being caught." Nick explained sheepishly.

"Of course it was." Judy rolled her eyes, though she can't deny how handy this new knowledge was.

"Any ideas about how we stop them from there?" Nick asked.

"What?! I thought _you_ had a plan?" Judy asked.

"Hey, I got us this far!" Nick defended, making Judy groan. Instead of chastising him, she began to think. How could they stop the car without hurting the fawn? She thought about what she had with her: her tranq gun and her normal gun, a police baton, a handcuffs and-

"Spikes! The strip spikes!" she cried, opening one of the larger pockets of her belt and grabbing metal strips with blades attached to them, "This should slow them down!"

"See? I had total fate in you, Carrots!" Nick grinned, which only resulted in Judy rolling her eyes once again, but even she couldn't help her smile.

"We really need to work on this 'me finishing your unfinished plan' thing because I swear, one day I won't have any ideas!" Judy called out as they finally reached the ladder to the tunnel.

"Oh, please, like that's ever going to happen!"

As soon as they climbed out the sewer hole, Judy's keen ears could already hear a car on its way. Judging by the frantic tire noises and the quick speed, it had to be the kidnappers.

She quickly put the strip down and rolled it until it reached the other end of the tunnel. Nick stood on the other side and they gave each other a thumbs up, grabbing their guns and getting ready to save the kid.

Just as predicted, the black Afura was drivingly quickly. So quick that even if the driver had the time to see the spikes, he couldn't have reacted. The tires rolled over the spikes and quickly slowed down, but not without driving frantically before crashing into the wall.

Nick and Judy quickly ran to it and held their guns high. As Judy was closer, she reached to the front of the car while Nick waited in the back.

Now, this sort of situation alternated: sometimes Nick would check out these things first, othertimes like now it was Judy. But whoever it was, they always somehow fought to be the one to verify, because the one who had to be left behind always had this nervous and skittish feeling when they saw their partner tiptoe around uncertain danger. Even now, Nick's fear caused him to grip his hold tightly, ready to shoot if need be.

"ZPD! Come out slowly with your paws up!" Judy yelled. A second passed. And another. And another. It was impossible to see through the dark tinted windows, so Judy decided she had to check in for herself.

Slowly and cautiously, she opened the car's door, but what she saw shocked her.

"What?" Judy breathed, putting her gun down and diving right into the car.

"Carrots, wait!" Nick yelled after her, immediately following her into the car.

No one. Not the two odd figures Nick saw before, just a tiny little fawn, not one scratch on him body, seemingly unharmed, nothing wrong with him except the fear in his eyes. "Please help..."

Judy quickly jumped and took the shivering fawn in her arms, "Shh, it's okay, it's alright...we're the police. We're here to protect you."

The fawn kept shivering and snuggled closer to Judy, who looked at Nick, both filled with pity on their faces. But Nick's fights began to light up with red and blue, indicating the presence of one of their own here.

A while later, the young fawn was wrapped in a red blanket and given a warm cup of tea, Judy still sitting close to the young fawn as Nick, aswell as Fangmeyer and Delgato, both investigated the car for paw prints or any DNA sample that could be taken.

The fawn's been pretty quiet so far, but Judy thought it would be best to keep the fawn talking, if not to distract him for a while. "So, can you tell me your name?"

"R-Ronno.." the fawn answered.

"So, who are your parents?" Judy asked.

"..." the fawn remained silent again, cuddling with his own blanket.

She didn't want to press, but this was a rather bizarre kidnapping. If she wanted to solve it, she needed to have all the facts. "Ronno, could you tell me who your mommy and daddy are?"

"Jane Doe." the fawn answered, "That's my mommy. John Kingsley is my daddy."

"Oh..." Judy nodded, understandingly. She remembered seeing a lion claim his son had been kidnapped. He must have been a step-father, or perhaps little Ronno here was adopted.

Here comes the painful question: "Ronno, I know this is hard, and you've been a brave little boy throughout this whole ordeal. But I have to ask...can you identify the mammals who took you?"

"No." Ronno answered quickly. Too quickly. "I can't."

"Really? Not even what species they were?" Judy asked skeptically.

"...I'm not sure what species they were." Ronno answered, this time a little softer.

Judy wanted to ask more questions. Like does he know why they'd kidnap him? Were they friends of family's? Or enemies? Did they even know him? Or were they complete strangers?

But judging from Ronno's still shivering body, Judy thinks those two questions alone pushed him a bit far. She figured she could be patient about this. After all, he wasn't harmed. He seemed relatively okay, except perhaps for the little scare, but that may be expected, after all.

Still...it didn't make sense. Did they suddenly change their minds about kidnapping him or something? That's what it seemed like. She made a mental note to check the cameras around here. But why _this_ fawn? Or rather, why was Ronno so quick to say he couldn't identify his kidnappers? He wasn't blindfolded, not as far as Judy could tell. In fact, he seemed perfectly in tact, physically. There was no signs of struggle. No claw marks, no bruises, no scratches. Heck, why kidnap him in broad daylight? What were they trying to prove, if anything?

That car is too big to be that of a small-sized mammal, but not big enough to fit, say, a rhino or a giraffe. The kidnappers had to have been the size of either a medium-sized dog or a large lion. Or at least, the driver was. But that being said, where was the driver? Where was the second person Nick said he saw, for that matter?

"Mommy! Daddy!" said Ronno, who completely broke Judy's train of thought. She looked up to see the young fawn forget about his fear and run up to his parents. His father, John Kingsley, she presumed, picked him up and hugged him, and Jane Doe quickly wrapped her own arms around little Ronno.

The sight warmed Judy's heart. It reminded her why she was doing all this. To make sure that good mammals like them could be protected and happy. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick sit beside her, "And Wildehopps saves a life and reunites a family all before lunchtime."

Judy chuckled, "What do you think happened? To the kidnappers, I mean?"

"Hard to tell. But I'm guessing that it wasn't our scary demeanor that made them give up and turn away from a life of crime."

"Hmm..." Judy thought out loud, "For now, let's just be happy that the family's safe."

"Agreed." Nick nods.

They both stared at the oddball family with fascination and a curious feeling in their chests. A lion and a deer. Now, there's something you don't see everyday. Interspecies couples weren't exactly as repressed as they were twenty years ago, but they always remained a minority. Predator/prey relationships were practically non-existent. Yet here they were, a young couple just happy to have their son back, enjoying a tender moment.

"Hey, Wildehopps, nice work." Fangmeyer complimented as she and Delgato walked towards them.

"What this? Pff, this is an off day for us. Really, usually, the criminals don't get away." Nick said, half-sarcastically and half-serious.

"Ah, don't sweat it, Wilde. You guys did good. The kid's safe, the family's happy...This particular family could use a little happiness." Delgato commented.

"Oh? You know them?" Judy asked.

"Know them? They've been coming to the ZPD for weeks, asking for protection against threats. Some anti-interspecies group." Delgato explained.

Just like that, a knot formed in Nick's stomach. It was a taboo subject, but even though Zootopia preached tolerance and acceptance, they knew that interspecies couples today still can't kiss in public without the usual look of disgust or disapproval, even though 'normal' couples did worse on a daily basis. In fact, any couple that wasn't an intraspecies and heterosexual couple always encountered problems and threats. Sometimes they were empty, othertimes they weren't. Every officer on the force has encountered their fair share of hate crimes, each more grizzly and horrible than the last.

Nick's eyes wandered to Judy, then found himself staring at his feet. He let out a heavy sigh that was, unsurprisingly, covered by Judy's outburst.

" _What?!_ " Judy exclaimed, "And we've been doing nothing?"

"We can't, Hopps, you know that..." Fangmeyer said.

"Right..."Judy said, but the disapproval laced in her voice had been obvious and loud, "Unless there's a physical occurrence, we can't do anything about anonymous threats. I still think there's something wrong about that rule, by the way."

"You and everybody else." Fangmeyer said, "But it's a sad truth: if the ZPD investigated and protected every civilian who was _threatened_ , then we'd have to protect sixty percent of Zootopia alone."

"Well, this has gotta count as a physical occurrence, right?" Nick asked, "I mean, the kid was kidnapped, what more do you want?"

"Oh, this is going to be investigated, no doubt about that." Delgato agreed, "You two'll probably be the ones on the case."

"We're already on the Night Howler case, though." Judy reminded them.

"Yeah, but there's something really off about this kidnapping. Something just doesn't feel right. And you know anytime there's an oddball case, Bogo's gonna give them to you guys. Besides, the Night Howler busts are probably just the work of copycats." Fangmeyer argued.

Before Judy could argue, Nick remembered the family, "Hey guys, think you can handle the car and the perimeter? I think Ca-Officer Hopps and I should take the family home. Maybe talk to the parents a while, see if they have any leads."

"No problem." Delgato nodded, "You will have to explain this to Bogo, though."

"Thanks, pal! We owe you!" Nick grinned as he and Judy went over to talk to the family.

"Um...Mrs Doe? Mr Kingsley?" Judy began, uncertain of how she should refer to them, "I'm Officer Judy Hopps and this is-"

"Officer Nick Wilde, yes, we know you two, we're big fans." Jane Doe grinned, "And obviously, we cannot thank you enough for saving our little boy."

Jane gave her son a little squeeze on his shoulders, causing him to giggle. The first happy noise Judy's heard out of the kid.

"Well, that's what we do at the ZPD." Nick said kindly, "If you wouldn't mind, we would like to talk to you about who you think would have any motivations behind this, but we figured it'd be better to take you home first."

"Oh, certainly, that would be very helpful, especially since we rode here with your fellow officers." John thanked, "Actually, you two haven't had lunch, right? Why don't you come have lunch at our restaurant? Our little way of thanking you. Our treat, of course."

Nick and Judy laughed, but accepted. They still needed to eat, after all, and what's the harm of regaining a little energy and talking to the parents while they're at it? A free meal and a few leads. Sounded like a great deal to them.

Behind them, Delgato stared at the family and his friends with curiosity. He recognized John Kingsley, being one of his playmates when they were cubs. He would have never figured him to be an interspecies kind of guy, but hey, if it made the guy happy, more power to him. He remember Kingsley being a nice guy, always standing up even for the little guys. With a big heart like his, it shouldn't come as no surprise that he'd be open to interspecies relationships.

Which, speaking of...

"You know why Wilde's been so quiet, don't you?" Delgato asked Fangmeyer, who immediately snorted. "Wilde? Quiet? No such thing. Then again, neither is Hopps."

"No, seriously." Delgato said, "Think about it: this is basically a hate crime against an _interspecies_ couple."

Fangmeyer rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I got that, what's got to do with Wilde and- _Oh._ "

"Yeah, dumbass. _Oh_." Delgato nodded, shaking his head.

Fangmeyer blinked for a second, watching as Wilde opened the door for the family to get in first before going into the front seat. She sighed, shaking her head, too. "They're good folks, David. Really, they don't deserve this."

"Do any of us?" David Delgato questioned Fiona Fangmeyer.

She didn't answer. Only stared in pity as their friends drove off to uncertainty. Everybody liked Nick and Judy. They only wanted what was best for them. Sometimes, though, it does happen that Fiona wonders what 'best' meant. Her cousin in Japawn thought that getting involved with a panda would be what was 'best' for her, and apparently they're kind of heroes in their own right over there, but even in Japawn, her sister and her boyfriend got stares and hushed whispers everywhere they went.

But then she remembers how the sister she once thought to be cold and stoic cared so much for her panda, and how her panda cared so much for her. In the end, Fangmeyer figured that it didn't matter what _she_ thought was best. It wasn't her life to live, after all.

Besides, if there was ever a pair who could go against the world and live to tell the tale, Fangmeyer would easily put her money on those two.

Which she technically did ever since Clawhauser started that betting pool.

"Meh. I'm still rooting for them." Fangmeyer decided, turning back to the car.

At that, Delgato chuckled, "Yeah, you and everyone else. Although you know what, speaking of, you know those Night Howler busts? I think Hopps was onto something when she was all suspicious about it."

"How so?" Fangmeyer questioned.

"I heard some agent from the ZBI's coming to help Nick and Judy on the Night Howler case." Delgato said.

"What?! ZBI?!" Fangmeyer screeched, "Jeez, just how big is the Night Howler thing? I thought they were just copycats?"

"First of all, that term: offensive."

"Sorry." Fangmeyer said sheepishly.

"It's alright. Anyway, to answer your question, I've got no idea what's going on. But if they're bringing ZBI into this, I'd say we need to worry." Delgato said.

"Wow..." Fangmeyer whispered, more in horror than fascination, "Well, hey, we don't need to worry, right? This is _Hopps_ and _Wilde_ we're talking about. There ain't no case they couldn't crack."

Delgato bit his lips. He didn't answer, but he honestly hoped that Fangmeyer was right. But realistically? Two years. It's been two years and Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have cracked some tough cases, have had perfect and pristine records and their hospital bills never exactly required surgery or anything life-threatening. That was lucky. _Too_ lucky. And no matter how good of a cop you are, there's no way your entire career can stay that perfect.

Two years is a long time to have a winning streak. Truth is, David Delgato was just a little worried that the 'Wildehopps' streak would end and when it does, they would lose when Zootopia would need them the most.

* * *

 **AN: OK, so in this chapter, three not-so-subtle references: one to Tim Burton's Batman movies (yes because this fic is SO light on Batman references), the second one to Kung Fu Panda (and this reference is impossible to miss, by the way) and the third, well, less of a reference and more than a hint.**

 **For those deep into the Zootopia fandom, at the mention of an agent, you're probably thinking: OH GOD IT'S ONE OF _THOSE_ STORIES. And to that I say...yes and no. Let's just say I delight in twisting the expected. And oooh, I can hear the conspiracy theorists thinking of what I mean by that. What I mean is: look underneath the underneath. Which is a pretty fancy way of saying it's not what you think.**

 **So. What's up with Ronno, that little weirdo? Who were those kidnappers? What's their deal? Why does EVERY Zootopia fanfiction have that cliché angle of Clawhauser starting a betting pool on Wildehopps? Because it's a freaking hilarious concept, that's why. Next chapter, we get a little more insight with the Does and Kingsley and as we've established Wildehopps' friendship, now it's time to dive into deeper territory.**

 **And honestly, the next chapter has one little scene I'm particularly excited to write, so stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 3: John and Jane Doe

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: John and Jane Doe**

Jane Doe's story was the kind you'd see in movies: small-town deer from Podunk wants to own a humble restaurant with home-cooked meals that would make people happy, but lacked the funds to do it and has to put up with all that 'the restaurant business is cutthroat' nonsense. But the truth is, Jane simply believed that food brought people together and she didn't want to be some fancy five-star restaurant. She just wanted an authentic, genuine, quaint little place where she could cook her recipes and make people happy.

Then enters a nice, suave buck who says he'll make her dreams come true if she marries him. Walter Doe promised her her dreams and because Jane once believed the best in everyone, she listened. Of course, years passed and Walter's kind promises turned into manipulative ploys where Jane would cook little catering jobs and Walter would take the money, even going as far as saying Jane's recipes were his own mother's.

But Ronno changed all that. Jane realized that she loved her son too much to see him become the kind of man Walter was, and so she divorced Walter and even sued him for fraud, which she won. Both Nick and Judy recalled seeing this story blow up in the news reel a few years back. The deer then had enough money to start her own restaurant in Barker Street and live in the upstairs apartment. Then, of course, her restaurant became a hit as many wanted to see the infamous deer herself.

John Kingsley was an English school teacher, Ronno's teacher to be precise. Jane met him during one of those parent-teacher conferences and, well, the rest was history.

Given how they did just save her son, Jane treated the dynamic duo to a free meal, which just might be the best meal either of them has ever had: what seemed to be a simple, traditional meal of mashed potatoes, gravy and roasted chicken simply felt divine. Although Judy never actually ate chicken before, Nick challenged her with that 'try everything' motto and it worked, as it always had, and as it turns out, she loved it. On the side, Jane offered sweet potato fries, which they both agreed was better than normal fries, and a nice, home-made lemon iced tea. Then later, she treated them with a blueberry pie that easily rivaled Gideon Grey's, and immediately Nick knew he would be coming back for that alone.

"I'm conflicted. On one hand, I'm a cop and I need to stay fit. On the other, I just wanna keep eating." Nick said lazily and probably encompassing how most people feel after eating well.

"That...was amazing, Mrs Doe." Judy complimented, all smiles and happy after feeling the warmth from her belly, "Really, it's no wonder your restaurant does so well."

"Oh, you're going to make me blush." Jane smiled, "Oh, but, um, it's actually Miss Doe."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed that..." Judy stammered, but the couple didn't seem to mind.

"It's fine. Hey, if everyone already assumes we're married, then we must be doing something right." Jane smirked at John.

"Wait. So, your name is Jane Doe?" Nick began, and Judy 'subtly' kicked him in an attempt to keep him from laughing. "So...if you take her name, you two will be..."

"Nick..." Judy warned, knowing fully well where he was going with this.

"John and Jane Doe?" Nick was literally biting his lip at this point, trying very, very hard not to laugh.

John and Jane waited a second, but then Jane laughed herself, "It's okay, Officer Wilde, you can laugh."

Finally, Nick gave a boisterous laughed, with Judy slapping her hand against her head. "John and Jane Doe! You get it, Carrots? _John and Jane Doe_!"

As much as Nick tried to reel in his laughter after realizing that the pair might be offended, it wasn't necessary, as the couple themselves found it amusing and often joked about it before.

Joining into the craze, little Ronno was running around frantically with a model airplane. What an odd little boy. Not so long ago, he seemed almost shell-shocked with all that's happened. Now it was like he wasn't almost kidnapped a few hours ago. Then again, he was a kid, after all and their moods switched pretty fast. Still, Judy thought it was a bit peculiar. She wished she could forget things as easily as children did.

"Ronno? Maybe you should take a little nap?" Jane gently suggested.

And in an instant, Ronno immediately stopped running around and obeyed his mother, walking upstairs to the Doe's apartment. Judy was a little surprised. Jane and John must be strict parents, because as she recalls, even the most well-behaved of her siblings usually put up fights for afternoon naps.

Apparently, this also came as a surprise to both John and Jane.

"Huh. Usually, he's a lot less compliant, but as long as it gets him some rest..." John quickly commented, "Anyway, as I was saying, given how it makes people happy, I just might take her name instead. But as far as marriage goes, we're not even sure if we're willing to do it. I mean, I love Jane and I love Ronno like he was my own, but these days, I feel like..."

John took a deep breath. Beside him, Jane moved closer to him, putting her hoof in his paw. The difference was hard to notice, but John gently closed his paws around her hoof, recognizing the support. The action didn't go unnoticed by Nick. He never said it out loud, but little things like that always fascinated him, the little actions one can do just to show the other that they're there for them.

"I feel like marrying Jane would only exacerbate things." John explained.

"John..." the deer beside him began, but John quickly shook his head.

Before Nick or Judy could put in their own thoughts, John's eyes were filled with anger, but not directed to anyone in particular it seems, "No, Jane! Look at what's happened when we're _just dating_! Could you imagine what they'd do to him if we married?! I can't risk that! I just...maybe it's better if I just stay awa-"

"Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence, you cowardly lion!" Jane snapped. Again, even though Nick and Judy's best judgement was to intervene in this little squabble, they stayed quiet. For one, it wasn't exactly common to see an angry deer. Deer seemed to live up to a certain stereotype that they were docile, shy and, well, pushovers. But Jane Doe didn't seem to fit that profile. In fact, she seemed to do everything she could to contradict it. That and the term 'cowardly lion' wasn't exactly one you'd hear everyday.

"What you're going to let your life be dictated by some strangers? That doesn't make sense!" Jane exclaimed, "You'd rather be miserable for the rest of your life just because some jerks can't stand to be uncomfortable for a few seconds? That's absurd!"

Apparently, the deer's passion was contagious, because Judy found herself agreeing with her. It _is_ ridiculous! There's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy and if happy meant that one was in a loving relationship and wasn't hurting anybody, then what did it matter what they did? She found herself getting angrier at those protestors she saw on TV. She never understood why some would dedicate so much time hating something that doesn't even affect them. It was because of those protestors that so many couples break up or give up before they even try. If anything, the deer was in the right here. After all, if every couple gives up, who will be there to speak for them and inspire others not to give up?

But on the other side of the spectrum, Nick found himself silently agreeing with John. There was, of course, nothing wrong with interspecies relationships.

 _Really, really nothing wrong._

But they had to face facts: the world they lived in was brutal. Some will go through great lengths to stop what they want, by any means necessary. If you add in the love of your life and your child in that equation, would you really risk it? Would you really risk their lives for your happiness?

 _No. Absolutely not._

In the end, Nick quietly rooted for the lion. Was it unfair and unjust and sad? Yes. Yes it was. But no one ever said the world was fair and sometimes, sacrifices had to be made to protect the ones you loved.

 _You know that more than anyone, don't you, Nick?_

"Could we talk about this later?" John asked softly. Jane didn't answer, instead she only stared at him and knew immediately that she wasn't going to like this 'talk'.

Deciding it was time to get over this awkward stage, Nick cleared his throat and captures everyone's attentions, "Look, I can tell you guys are having a rough time. So we won't bother you with an hour long interrogation. You guys have been great to us, but we do still need to ask a few questions..."

"Of course." Jane answered solemnly, "We'll do our best. Anything to help capture the ones responsible for this."

"Right, well, at the top of your heads, do you know anyone who would have a motive to hurt any of you or Ronno?" Judy asked, feeling the question was a bit silly. There were thousands of people with motives to hurt them. But now that she thought about it, no matter how many protestors and naysayers there are, would any of them really resort to kidnapping?

"Where to start?" John said almost bitterly, "Those protestors, maybe. We've received several threats and hate mail, always saying the same thing. It's wrong, it's unnatural, it's evil, blah, blah, the list goes on. They say my presence is corrupting Ronno, even though he's turning out to be a fine young buck."

"I would say Walter has a motive to hurt us..." Jane answered softly. Nick flinched as he saw the similar symptoms of an abused woman he so often saw in Happytown. Jane's hoofs unconsciously began to rub her neck, her shoulders haunched and closed in on her. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the subject. "My ex-husband didn't take too kindly to his son being raised by a lion. He tried to take full custody, but the court dismissed it the moment Ronno himself said he didn't want to live with him."

"But even so, do you have reason to believe that Walter Doe would kidnap your child?" Nick asked, "Or at least hire people to kidnap him?"

"Well, now that you mention it, when I asked Ronno if he could identify his kidnappers, he quickly said no. It was like he was afraid of talking about it. He wouldn't even tell me the species." Judy remembered.

Jane's eyes widened, "But could Walter really kidnap his own son?"

"I wouldn't put it pass him." John said angrily.

All the memories of what Walter did to her came back to Jane, and she sighed, "Maybe you're right...technically, Walter isn't even allowed to visit Ronno unless he sets up a date. We could have him arrested."

"Well, first, we'd need to make sure that it was, in fact, your ex-husband who kidnapped Ronno." Nick said, "But as far as I'm concerned, we may have a potential lead here."

"But we should also keep an eye on those protestors." Judy argued, "Mrs Doe, Mr Kingsley, do you have any e-mails that have threats against your son?"

"They're never really threats, per se...They're more or less just saying that Ronno will grow up corrupted and evil. But they never really threatened _him_." John said.

"Yes, but I think it's worth a look at the protestors who threatened us. They might have used Ronno to get to us." Jane reasoned, then turned to Nick and Judy, "We'll forward you the e-mails, but as for tracking them down..."

"Now need to worry about that." Nick said, "The IP addresses usually give us a lead."

Jane nodded, but she still didn't look too reassured. So Judy decided to offer what little comfort she could, even if it wasn't much. "Listen, I know you two are scared. But I promise you, we will do everything we can to make sure your son stays safe and nothing bad happens to either of you. I know things seem tough now, but for what it's worth, I think that what you two are doing a great job with him."

John smiled, "It means a lot to hear you say that, Officer."

Maybe it did, but Judy felt like it wasn't enough. It would never be enough until she can find those kidnappers...and those protestors and everyone who ever looked at them sideways and left the two in peace.

One step at a time, though.

Before they knew it, Nick and Judy realized that they ate lunch and managed to do a semi-interrogation in an afternoon and they were now technically off-duty. When it was time to leave, Jane walked out ahead with Judy, who figured now that she was off-duty, she could give the deer her two cents.

"You know, I agreed with everything you said back there." Judy confessed, "Staying together, I mean. If you two separated, it would only reinforce this idea that interspecies couples can't work. I think how you're handling this is really brave and admirable."

"Judy Hopps telling me that _I'm_ brave." Jane gushed, her eyes gleaming with pride, "Wait 'till my friends hear about that!"

Judy giggled at the deer's response. As she walked out, she couldn't help but think of what a nice place Barker Street was. Kids played outside, yet the hustle and bustle of the city was evident from the cars and the mammals running around in their suits. There was an equal amount of both predator and prey. The faint smell of freshly baked pie still lingered from _Doe's_ , a cat nearby was playing this quaint street music with his violin that seemed to mesh well with the laughter and chatter of mammals and the sun's warmth soothed her fur. The buildings were as tall and great as any of the other buildings in Zootopia, but they were also old and had a certain charm to them, like travelling back in time. Several tall lanterns were placed around the street, the design on them being oddly intricate and reminded her a lot of flowers. This one street was an odd mix of the calm suburban life Judy left behind and missed every once in a while, but that somehow still mixed in with the gleaming lights of Zootopia that Judy fell in love with.

"It's a nice place, isn't it?" Jane smiled, knowing exactly how Judy felt.

"It really is." Judy agreed.

"You know..." Jane began, "There are quite a couple of places available here. I hear apartment 221B is available. It's a bit pricey, but it's well worth it. Best view in all of Barker Street."

That did get Judy thinking. She loved her apartment, but its small size was ironically driving her crazy. As nice as Bucky and Pronk secretly were with her, they were still incredibly loud and distracting. She had more than enough money to get herself a new place, but she realized she never even thought about moving out.

Hmm. It was an intriguing offer, though...

But while the deer and the bunny contemplated her living arrangements and seemed to be in higher spirits, Nick looked over at the lion, who was solemn and seemed to be in his own thoughts ever since his little disagreement with Jane. Nick felt bad for him, really he did.

"Hey, for what it's worth, I...I understand you're in a tough spot." Nick told the lion.

John slowly raised his head and gave a weak smile, "I knew you would."

The lion's eyes briefly glanced at the bunny, who was chatting right now with his girlfriend as she walked them outside. John had no doubt that Officer Hopps was probably praising his wife's bravery.

Then he saw it. Every so often, Jane would have this look in her eyes whenever she was happy. Her dimples would stand out from her wide smile that she couldn't stop even if she tried. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement the same way her own son's did. Then John remembered how he fell in love with her in the first place. All it took was asking what she did for a living, and the passion she spoke with when she told him what she did hooked him in. He was a goner from then on.

"How do you let them know, though?" John asked, but the way he did, neither of them was really sure if he was talking to himself, Nick or even someone else. "How do you tell them that nothing will ever be worth putting their lives in constant danger?"

For the first time in a while, Nick didn't have an answer. Not even a joke.

He met up with Judy in the car as they both said goodbye to their new friends and of course, Judy noticed how quiet he was being.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Judy quipped.

Nick hesitated to talk about this with her, namely because he knew very well what she thought of the situation. Still, he had to get it out somehow and he was a little curious to hear her thoughts on the matter. "What do you make of their situation?"

"As an interspecies couple?" Judy asked.

"I meant about what John said." Nick clarified.

"Oh. I get where John's coming from, but leaving them is the worst thing he can do." Judy reasoned, "He's the only father Ronno's ever known and Jane really does love him."

"Yeah, but if he's willing to do what he says, don't you think it's because he'd rather that Jane and Ronno hate him than always live with fear?" Nick asked.

"Okay, okay, fair point." Judy agreed, "But let me me ask you this: if John left Jane and Ronno, would any of them be living? Or just surviving?"

Fair point, as well. He understood where Judy was coming from in that sense. In theory, it sounded so easy to understand. The risk was worth it if it meant they could all be together.

That is, until, the risk becomes a reality and something horrible happens. What then?

"Besides, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Judy quoted with a grin on her face.

"' _And bears.'"_ Nick remembered Stu's words, "And I bet foxes, too, right? They're the worst!"

Judy smirked, "I don't know. I know a fox who's secretly a huge softy."

"Ugh, I swear, you cry once at one movie-" Nick groaned.

"What was it again? Oh, right, you cried during Moolan." Judy chirped.

"Okay, I was only crying because _you_ cried, first of all." Nick corrected.

"Sure, you did. Everyone believes you, Nick." Judy smirked, "But seriously though, are you telling me that if you were in John's position, you wouldn't fight for the right to be with your family?"

"It's just _too_ big of a fight, Carrots. There's too many risks. Do you honestly think I'd ever want my wife or kid to always be the target of gossip or threats?"

"If they can handle it, what's the problem?" Judy asked, "You and I are the target of gossip and threats and we risk our lives everyday, but we're still fine. So if I can handle it, why not your future wife?"

 _Sir, I believe you ordered Irony with a side of Oh How Painfully Ironic? Very good, sir._

"That's different." Nick merely muttered as he slowly sunk back into his seat.

"How is it any different?" Judy asked, then sudden realization hit her, and she grinned, "Huh. Are you telling me you're interested in someone who's _not_ a vixen?"

Panic immediately struck Nick, and the normally silver-tongued fox began to stammer, "T-That's not what I-"

"Oh, how scandalous!" Judy acted in a dramatic, over-the-top British accent and put her hand on her forehead as if she were about to faint, "The fox-cop who can be dumb and not always sly wants to break yet _another_ status quo by entering an interspecies relationship! Oh, won't someone _please_ think of the children!"

"Okay, first of all, we really need to work on your acting. And your accents." Nick began. "Secondly, that's not what I meant. I was just wondering because of the Does, that's all."

"Really?" Judy asked teasingly, "So you're saying you've never thought of an interspecies relationship?"

 _Would you like to see the dessert menu, Sir?_

 _No, thanks, Jeeves, I think I've had plenty of Irony for today._

"Well, not _never_...I just-Ugh." Nick buried his face into his paws, really wishing that the words would flow out of his mouth as it usually did instead of...whatever was happening right now. "Could we not talk about this some other time?"

"No! Not until you tell me who's the lucky girl!" Judy pressed, "Or guy?"

"Not a guy." Nick clarified. As soon as he did, Judy immediately stopped the car and parked, causing Nick to fall again.

"AH-HA! So there _is_ a girl!" Judy said triumphantly.

 _Sir, the lady over there sends this drink over to you. It's a Hustle._

"Oh, crab." Nick swore.

Judy's grin only grew larger, "So come on, tell me, tell me, tell me! Who is she? Do I know her? Does she work with us? Tell me!"

Judy began to shake his shoulder with her two paws in excitement and poor Nick was wondering just _how_ he was gonna get out of this one.

"I-um...hey, look, there she is!" he quickly pointed to Judy's window, but when she turned around, there was nothing there but the streets of Tundra Town.

And when she looked back the Nick's seat, the fox had disappeared. Even as she rolled down the window and looked outside, he was nowhere to be found.

"Grr...I'll find out who she is, Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" Judy shouted into the empty streets and raised her fists, then realized this action probably wasn't helping her look any saner, so she slid back into the car and sighed as she put her paws on the wheel, getting ready to leave.

In hindsight, she really did want to know who was Nick's mystery woman. Curiosity got the best of her and knowing her meddling self, she would probably do everything they can to make sure they end up together.

And yet, another side screamed at Judy. She couldn't really understand why, but part of her actually feared the idea of Nick finding his mate. This was a little confusing...she wanted her best friend to be happy, right? So why did this scare her suddenly?

It's probably nothing, she figured. Isn't it practically custom for the best friend to worry whenever their best friend gets a mate? Worried about whether or not that mate is good enough, or whether or not they'll get along or whether or not they'll stay friends...No, that's silly, right?

They had a solid friendship. Everybody knew it and anyone who's met them recognized it. No one was ever going to come between them, no man, no woman, no one.

So, why, oh, why, did she suddenly feel so horrible about the whole thing?

* * *

Okay, maybe not the _best_ plan ever. Certainly not one of his cleverest ones. But hey, it worked, didn't it? He avoided answering her question and he got away. As far as he's concerned, it was successful.

The downside was he had to walk home. He didn't mind, even though his home required a stop through Happytown and as he was in Tundra Town, he still had a long way to go before he reached the Nocturnal District, where he moved to a couple of years back.

But another downside may be that this long walk would leave Nick alone with his thoughts, which he really didn't want to happen. All he could think of what the Doe case, and how Judy now knew he at least had a crush on someone and she would never rest until she knew who. He couldn't exactly avoid her his whole life, either.

But there were _so_ many complications involved. The most glaring one being how did _she_ feel? And even, by some insane and beautiful miracle, she felt the same, then how would this affect their lives? He knew that work relationships were frowned upon but not entirely banned. But this would certainly raise their fame status and not in a good way. Sure, they would inspire other interspecies relationships. But what would this mean for the protestors?

If a humble restaurant owner and a schoolteacher can get their child kidnapped over their relationship, then what would that mean for the faces of the ZPD? Role models to everyone everywhere, epitomes of what was good in the world?

Knowing Judy, it was a risk she would be more than willing to take. But Nick...he knew better.

As he walked into Happytown, he realized he had better start walking faster given how the sun was setting really quick and a lone fox in a cop outfit was a walking target. While these streets were relatively safe...-ish during the day, the nighttime offered something else entirely. He should know. He was once one of those 'something else's.

It was difficult not to be paranoid in these streets. Everyone who walked passed him looked like they were meeting someone for something and they hoped no one would notice. He noticed how they conveniently changed streets whenever they saw his blue uniform. But this fear wouldn't last long when they all found their buddies and told each other that Nick was walking by, so his pace quickened.

And he would have reached home pretty soon, too, if he didn't suddenly hear cries for help.

"No! Please, I don't understand! I didn't do anything wrong, I-" then laughter followed and the whole thing felt all too familiar to Nick, so he quickly ran towards the source.

The noise and laughter became louder as he reached an alley. Going into an alley in these places at night was dangerous, but he didn't care. That voice was that of a kid's and if his instincts were correct...

Wouldn't you know it. They were. As he peeked into the alley, he saw several little mammals in junior scouts outfits, all laughing and jeering as a little fox stayed planted on the ground, pathetically attempting to escape the grips of several prey mammals holding him down.

 _Déjà vu..._

"Please, let me go!" the little kit yelled, "I won't tell anyone just leave me alone, I don't understand why you're doing this, I-"

 _Tell me what I did wrong you guys, tell me what did I do?!_

The sound of desperation, along with the sight of one of them holding a muzzle caused Nick to snap out of his paralysis. Whatever happens right now could define this kid's life. Nick would _not_ let him be another victim like he was.

"Leave that boy alo..." Nick ran towards them, but began to stop and trail off as the fence behind the boys opened to reveal another fox, this time an adult with an angry scowl on his face.

"What do you think you're doing to that poor boy?!" he snarled, green eyes glinting angrily in the dark, "Leave him alone right now!"

They all ran in fear and as soon as they saw Nick, they screamed, "There's three of them! Let's go before they eat us!"

Nick glared as he saw the kids run away. The kid in him wanted to chase them down and beat them up, but he had to remember that he was an adult now and he can't act on instinct alone. So, instead, he opted to talk to whoever was handling these junior scout meetings and tell the mothers of these scouts. Or he could tell the kid to press charges. They won't exactly go to jail, being children, but they will have to go through sensitivity training, which he knows the children around here sure as heck needed.

The muzzle that one of them held fell to the ground and Nick cringed at the sight of it. As he made his way to the foxes, he had every intention of comforting the poor kit, only to find that it was already taken care of by the kit's hero, who was hugging the little kit and comforting him.

"Shh, hey, it's okay, little guy..." that voice...why did it sound so familiar? "Hey, those brats don't know what they're missing. You would have been the greatest scout ever, and they knew it and they were so jealous of you that they didn't want you to join."

The kit was still sobbing, but through his tears, Nick could hear hope as the kit asked, "R-Really? You think so?"

"I know so." the fox answered with a smile, "Now, what do I say I take you home to your family, huh?"

 _I know you. I know that voice. I know that answer. I know those eyes._

But he had to be sure. He just had to.

So Nick slowly grabbed his phone and turned on the flashlight, immediately shining it on the two foxes, but focusing his sight on the one who was there to save _this_ kit when he needed him...

"Dad?"

* * *

 **AN: Please, for the love of God, TELL ME you got the Sherlock references. During the description of Barker Street, I had been listening to 'Married Life' by Michael Giacchino, who, by the way is also responsible for Zootopia's soundtrack. Although given how Up, which Married Life was featured in, ends, let's hope Nick and Judy don't face the same fate, shall we?**

 **And Nicky meets his dad. Great!...Or not? Wanna take a guess as to how Nick will react?**


	5. Chapter 4: First Step

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 _Where were you when everything was falling apart?_

 _All my days were spent by the telephone_

 _That never rang and all I needed was a call_

 _That never came on the corner of First and Amistad_

 _Lost and insecure you found me_

 _You found me_

 _Lying on a floor_

 _Surrounded, surrounded_

 _Why'd you have to wait?_

 _Wher were you? Where were you?_

 _Just a little late...you found me_

 _-_ 'You Found Me' by the Fray

* * *

 **Chapter Four: First Step-Invitation to a None-Threatening Event**

"Nicholas..." Felix breathed, the kit in his arms looking back and forth in confusion.

"Hey, you're Nick Wilde! You're a hero!" The kit exclaimed happily, then immediately asked for an autograph.

Now, usually, Nick was kind with his fans, even more so with children. But this time, he couldn't be Officer Nick Wilde, with his smooth words and careless charm. He was no longer the confident fox who turned his life around and became a symbol of prosperity.

No, instead he is little Nicky Wilde, friendless and fatherless, trying desperately hard to swim in a world that only tried to drown him. He is little Nick Wilde, whose mother's slow descent into madness caused him to live off the streets and worked for seedy people just to have something to eat or somewhere to stay the next day. He is back to being Nick Wilde, cynical and alone and bitter and angry at the world for chewing him up just to spit him back out and forced him to grow up far too soon in a world that was far too cruel.

He is little Nick Wilde, who could have been spared all this, if the mammal in front of him didn't leave.

"Now, Nick..." Felix began, but Nick had already turned his back on him and began to stomp away.

He could hear his father call after him, but he didn't care. Didn't _want_ to care. All he focused on was his quick walk that was a few speeds away from running, the frantic beat of his heart screamed in his ears, threatening to burst out of his chest.

"Wait, Mr Wilde!" The little kit yelled, "I'm sorry! I just really wanted to meet you!"

This kit's already been through a lot. Now to meet his hero and have that person run away from you right when you needed to hope now more than ever? Nick knew what that kind of experience would lead to and because he promised himself that he would never let another child go through what he did if he could prevent it, he slowed down until he eventually stopped.

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, taking a deep breath and trying to ignore how his closed eyes gathered his impending tears together.

 _Never let them see that they get to you._

And so, with a swoop of his sleeve to his eyes and wiping away any tears that may or may mot have been there, he turned around and instantly gave that hero-pose fox-grin everyone loved so much.

"Hey! Sorry, there, kiddo, you just looked so brave out there, I didn't think you needed my help." Nick chuckled as he ruffled the kid's tuffed hair. He _refused_ to lay eyes on the fox right beside the kit.

"You really think so?" The kit beamed. "Mom said I would meet you someday, I just never thought I'd meet you today!"

"Well, I only visit kits when they're smart enough not to believe what everyone else tells them. Did _you_ believe what those jerks told you?"

The kit shook his head so hard that his little hat nearly fell off, "Nuh-uh! Not one bit!"

"Good." Nick smiled, a little relieved if he was being honest. Seems like the kid wasn't going to spiral downwards like he did.

 _Of course, this kid was saved by your dad._

Nick shook those thoughts away and was about to suggest that he leave, until the kit talked to the fox beside him.

"You were really brave, too mister!" He complimented.

"Call me Felix, little guy, Felix Reynard." Felix grinned.

And with that, Nick had no choice but to look at him. He was, under no circumstances, not going to notice how he looked like an older twin of Nick's. He wasn't going to notice the red Pawaiian shirt that he wore. He wasn't going to notice how they seemed to have the exact same grin. He was definitely not going to notice how eerily similar their voices were, like someone had taken his own voice and lowered it just enough to know it's different but almost identical. He certainly wasn't going to notice has his green eyes were a lot closer to his shade than it ever was with his mother's lighter, kinder, more muted green eyes.

Nick was _sure_ that his name started with an 'fff' sound. He shook his head violently, removing any thoughts from his head. Just because they _looked_ and _sounded_ alike doesn't mean they had anything in common. Nick, for instance, would _never_ leave his family behind no matter what.

"And what's your name, little guy?" Nick asked, walking right beside the kit and as far away from Felix as possible.

Well, okay. Felix. That's all he is. Not 'my father', not 'Dad', just Felix. His mom never even took his last name, so Felix Reynard can just be another fox who just happened to look and sound like Nick.

"My name's Todd!" he chirped happily, "Todd Pawsons! I live just around the corner from here!"

And so Nick walked little Todd home. A few seconds ago, he was weary of these streets, but now his fear seemed to grow stronger. Not because of how quickly nighttime was arriving, but because he had no idea how to move on from here.

What happens when he brings Todd home? The awkward moments, that's what.

In his head, he remembered his promise to Judy, that he would look into it. Well, great. He kept his word. But he never said anything about staying in contact with his dad.

They had only walked for a few minutes, but every inch of Nick's body begged him to leave. Run. His instincts had been screaming _danger danger danger._ And yet he couldn't obey. Every once in a while, he spied Felix out of the corner of his eye and found that the very same green eyes were staring right back at him.

So when they finally walked Todd in front of his home, Nick had every intention of leaving as soon as possible. But the little guy smiled at Nick, and couldn't resist giving him a scout's salute.

"It was great meeting you, Officer Wilde! My friends will never believe me!" Todd chittered excitedly.

Good, the kid wasn't too traumatized by tonight. But Nick decided that meeting his hero during his time of need wasn't enough. He didn't just want Todd to _think_ he could be capable of more, he needed him to _know_ it.

"You know what, Todd?" he asked, bending down to his level, "You wanna be a scout? Go ahead. So what if the other idiots don't like you? You could make your own junior scouts, be their leader!"

Todd's eyes widened and he began to jump excitedly, "Do you really think I could do that, Officer Wilde?"

Nick smirked and looked into his pouch, pulling out a little Junior ZPD sticker and sticking it on Todd's chest, "Well, this badge gives you authorization to start your own junior scouts. And you know what? If they don't like it, tell them to go to me and say that you sent them!"

Inside his mind, he could hear Judy's voice in a teasing yet admiring tone.

 _Well, well, well, look at you, being a good role model for kits!_

And it was with both horror and amazement that Nick realized that he did sound a little bit like Judy.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Todd jumped. Nick couldn't help but laugh as he saw the happy kit. Kids' happiness really did have a contagious quality to them.

If nothing else, Nick always knew he at least made a kit believe in himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Felix watched with curious eyes. He saw how gentle Nicholas was with the kit. No surprise there. No matter how cruel a fox can be, they tended to be kind and sympathetic to other kits, mostly because they knew how difficult it is growing up being one. In hindsight, this incident worked out pretty well.

He wondered...with Nicholas softening up like this, would he be more willing to trust Felix? One could only hope.

His son's reaction was no less than what had expected. After all, Felix himself could hold a grudge for a very long time, too. It was no surprise that his son had inherited that trait. But what else had he inherited?

As far as he could tell, Nicholas was just as good with mammals as he was. Perhaps even better. While Felix had always been a bit awkward with children, Nicholas seemed to be perfectly genuine and at ease with them, whether he realized it or not. He knew Nicholas had to be brilliant, to have solved as many cases as he did.

But just _how_ good was he? Well, it doesn't really matter. No matter how good, Felix is still his father, and he'll always be one step ahead of his poor, emotional son. The proof? Well, everything was going according to plan right now, wasn't it?

When Nick bade Todd goodbye, he briefly debated talking to his parents about what had happened, then realized that perhaps it was better to talk to them in the morning, when they could actually do something about it. Nick knew from experience that angry parents were never pleasant to deal with, whether or not their anger was directed towards you.

But speaking of parents...

"Nicholas-"

"Well, I should go. Nice to meet you, Mr. Reynard, but I think I should be on my way home. That I paid. On my own. So, I guess this is goodbye and I hope we never see each other again! Bye!"

Deciding to move before his brain could register what happened and stop him, Nick walked as fast as he could without running and even made it as far as outside the building, still hearing his father's protest. But then, as soon as he could hear the fox exiting the building as well, he could hear his words as clear as day.

"Nick, listen, if you would just give me a fair chance-" Felix pleaded.

He should have kept walking. He should have walked until he left the building and never saw his stupid face again. But no, no, he just had to go on and say it, didn't he? Say that _one thing_ Nick always knew he would and bring back every resentment, every drop of anger and hate that he felt all these years?

"No, _you_ listen." Nick glared, turning around and stopping so abruptly that he nearly collided with his father, "First of all, only my _friends_ call me Nick. Second, I gave you a chance. I gave you more than twenty years of chances! So don't talk to me about being fair because you were never fair to me, so why should I ever be fair to you?!"

"Right...Nicholas, you have to understand that me leaving was the best thing that could ever happen to you!" Felix tried to convince him, "I...I can't explain it, but me being around you and your mother would have made things more dangerous for you two and-"

"Oh, really? How about when Mom started to lose it when I was 12, huh?!" Nick challenged, "Everyone in the neighborhood knew about it, so don't lie and tell me you didn't know she was sent to Arkit Asylum! Did you ever even stop to think about her? Or your son? You should have known no one was going to take in a fox!"

"I know, but Nicholas, it was still too early and believe me, if I could have saved you, I would have done it in a heartbeat, b-but I-" He looked pathetic. This fox looked pathetic in Nick's eyes, the way he stammered, the way he made excuses, the way he was trying to convince himself that leaving and never coming back was all for Nick.

Nick laughed. A broken laughter, like a still lightbulb swinging in an otherwise dark room. "You know what's funny? I still remember the headlines everywhere! 'Crazy Fox screams about roses in the streets'! How do you think it made me feel to know that the whole world was talking about my mother? How do you think it made me feel that even after that, my own father never came to save me?!"

" _But I did!_ " Felix screamed, his voice cracking against his impossibly dry throat. And for the first time, it caught Nick's attention, because the desperation in his voice sounded so much like him that ignoring Felix would have felt like ignoring himself. "A-At least I tried...I know it's hard to believe, but I have spent every second since I knew it was safe looking for you. It's just...by the time that I found you, you were already grown up. I couldn't tell you I had left for your own good."

He didn't want to say it. He wanted to eat his words and keep them locked in forever. But somehow, little Nicky took over Officer Nick Wilde and that moment and asked his father...

"How could us not being together ever be for my own good?"

The insecurity. The sadness. The fragility. It hit Nick like a ton of rocks and it occurred to him that he let him _see_. He let this stranger see the rawest and most vulnerable part of Nick without ever meaning to. It came out of him like it was stronger than him. Oh, sure, he had thought the words so many times, but he never said them out loud.

He didn't dare look at his father after that, because then he would see his eyes and his father would see a lot when he already saw too much. But the sound of silence stretched for far too long, and Nick's head raised until they stared at his father.

Felix looked like he had been punched in his stomach. Nick suddenly realized that while Felix seemed to be breathless and had the wind knocked out of him, Nick's breathing couldn't have been heavier and louder if he tried. His fists were clenched so tightly that his claws seemed to dig into his paws. He felt fear. But despite his 'fight or flight' instinct, neither of those solutions seemed to come up.

And after what seemed to be a lifetime later, one of them finally spoke.

"Nicholas, I don't know know what to tell you other than I'm sorry. I know simple words will never be enough to explain how much I regret what I did, but it's all I can give you. Well, that and this..." Felix reached into his pocket and pulled out a small torn piece of paper and a pen. "Tomorrow afternoon. It's Saturday, I assume you don't have work?"

No answer. Felix took that as a yes.

"Well, in that case, there's this ice cream parlor in Sahara Square that makes the best blueberry cheesecake ice cream in all of Zootopia." Felix started, resisting the urge to smile when Nick's ears perked up at the sound of a 'blueberry cheesecake ice cream'. "It's not great for my health, but I do go there every Saturday for a piece, from four to five-thirty. And if...you can somehow find it in your heart to give a poor old man a chance, I promise I'll explain everything and if you let me, I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."

Felix pulled the paper out, expecting Nick to take it, but he never reached for it. Instead, Nick stared at that paper and deep down, he knew what it represented.

It meant that he would be letting him in. It meant that in some way, he was giving him a chance to redeem himself. It meant that somehow, Nick could envision a world where he had a father again. But he wasn't so sure he was ready for that.

His paw stood out too long for Felix's liking. So he tightened his grip on the paper and began to shake his arm, shutting his eyes so tightly that it nearly hurt, "Nicholas, please...I know you don't owe me anything and I know I certainly don't deserve anything. Just please say yes...even if it's the last thing you ever do with me, just say yes."

But wasn't this what Nick wanted to be the last thing he ever did with this fox?

He slowly moved all his weight back, getting ready to walk away, but then an annoying voice that sounded suspiciously like a hybrid of him and Carrots began to gnaw at the back of his mind.

 _Are you sure? Sure you won't regret this later?_

He was sure he'd regret it less than he would if he had said yes.

 _But how will you know if you never try?_

That was no hybrid. That was all Carrots, no doubt about it.

Felix watched Nicholas with careful eyes. The inner conflict obviously still fought in his mind, but at this point, he could do nothing than be patient. No problem. Felix had lots of patience to last a lifetime. He knew that when persuading someone, you had to press just enough to make them hesitate, but not so much that you drove them away, annoyed at you. He had done all the persuading he could. All he could do now was wait...

Finally, to his delight, while Nicholas never said yes, his paw reached out and took the piece of paper anyway.

Felix let out a sigh Nick never noticed he kept. Then he gave a smile so big, that it actually beat Todd's smile earlier, "Oh, gosh! This is great, this is fantastic, this is-Ahem, I mean...thank you for giving me a chance. I promise you won't regret it, Nicholas."

 _So why do I already feel like I do?_

Not wanting to press his luck, Felix quickly decided to leave his son with his own thoughts. He made sure he looked as humble and happy as possible, keeping his smile on his face and making sure he would have a little skip in his step. They were little things that he was sure wouldn't escape his son's eyes.

And so Nick stood there, watching his ecstatic father leave. While he must have felt like a million bucks, Nick didn't know what to feel. He didn't feel excitement or happiness. He just felt...there. Okay, so he now had a meeting with his long-lost father due tomorrow. How was he _supposed_ to feel?

A groan escaped him. Really, he should just go home and get a good night's sleep. He did need it, after all. But when he envisioned himself heading home and jumping on his bed and sleeping, he already knew that he would never be able to sleep and that he would spend the night just...thinking. He couldn't go home. Not yet. He needed someone to talk to. He needed someone he could count on. He needed...

And just like that, Nick turned around and began to ran all across town, his paws defying the icy slopes and the slippery rain all to reach her.


	6. Chapter 5: With Friends Like These

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: With Friends Like These...**

"You met _who_?!" Judy asked Nick, who only sat beside her with still-wide eyes and still clutching the piece of paper in his paws so hard that he began to crush it.

The last thing Judy ever expected that night was to see her best friend frantically opening the door, covered in sweat and rainwater from the Rainforest District and fur shivering from the Tundra Town ice.

And the very _last_ thing she expected was for him to stay quiet for the longest time. At some point, she was even afraid that he had lost his voice.

"I'm fine." Nick had finally said a few seconds later, "Just...give me a few minutes to think."

So Judy gave him just that. She went to the common room kitchen and prepared them a quick ramen cup noodles and brought it back. When she came back, Nick was still sitting on her bed, blanket still wrapped around him, still staring at the walls. Nick hadn't moved an inch. There was something utterly surreal about a quiet Nick. What made Nick and Judy's friendship so easy was the fact that they had both liked to talk, and both were willing to listen. But a quiet Nick felt like going home only to find out that all the furniture had been missing, or going back to a place you once went to everyday and finding out there was a little swingset you never noticed was there. It was uncomfortable to think that there was something missing in something you thought you knew so well, and this was no exception.

But because Judy knew she could never force Nick to tell her what was going on, she waited. She put his cup in between his fingers and she heard a muffled 'thanks'. She muttered 'you're welcome in return' and sat up right next to him, making sure she would sit close enough for him to know she was there, but not too close that he felt like she was smothering him. She gave him one last look before she said, "When you're ready..." and dug into her food.

And for that, Nick was grateful.

He didn't know how long it had been before he spoke. All he knew was that by the time he felt ready to talk, the smoke from his ramen had already stopped and Judy had almost finished hers. And when he did say it, he said it so fast that Judy spat out the drink she had and asked him to repeat himself.

"My father. Felix Reynard. I met him tonight, he gave me a time and place tomorrow, and I don't know if I'm gonna go." Nick confessed. Then he finally took a bite of his food, "Mmm. This is good, Carrots. What is this, chicken?"

"Nick!" Judy practically scolded, "You can't just tell me you met your dad and ask me about _noodles_! Tell me how did this happen? How did you react? What did he say? What did _you_ say?!"

As Nick answered her questions in order, he found himself answering them like an interrogation. Factual, automatic and unsentimental. It's true, he was telling her what had happened. He wasn't telling her what he thought of it.

And Judy noticed it. She knew that he didn't _want_ to treat it as if it were anything more than facts and a story to tell. At first, Judy didn't know what to say. She'd always been determined to help mammals, but how could she help when she's never exactly faced this type of situation before?

Well, the very least she could do at the moment was to help Nick stop thinking about things as if they didn't happen to him.

"Can I ask you something? When your father talked to you, how was he? Like, how did he act? What did he look like?" Judy asked.

Nick thought back to when he saw him. The first meeting made him look ridiculously romantic, a knight-in-shining-armor swooping in to rescue the poor, bullied kit. Looking back, Nick half expected him to say some cheesy superhero catchphrase, wink, smile at the camera and give a thumbs up.

That was before he had seen Nick. But the look on his face when he did see him...the confusion in his blinking eyes, the shock in his dropped mouth, the fear and guilt in his shaking and pleading fingers.

And that last one, it had been so evident that it was almost ridiculous. Out of everything he could remember that night, that broken look on Felix's face had been the one that stood out the most.

"He looked scared. He acted guilty." Nick responded, but before Judy could use that as 'proof' that Felix meant well, Nick continued, "Key word being 'looked' and 'acted'...Carrots, in case you forgot, yesterday, I _looked_ angry and I _acted_ like I was betrayed. Who's to say that's not genetic?"

The bitterness in his voice didn't escape her. In that moment, Judy felt a pang of anger toward his father. Nick could be really confident and proud of his abilities, but now that he probably associated them with his father, Judy could practically feel his growing insecurity.

But that anger quickly went away when Judy realized that this could all be solved in a few simple steps.

"Nick, you can't judge something based on what you assume they are." Judy said. Nick stayed quiet, which only told her that he knew she was right, but either couldn't accept it. Times like this, he liked to pretend he refused whatever she was saying with a sarcastic comment.

 _Tonight, however, there seemed to be a world of changes._

"Look, you _know_ what I'm going to say." Judy said, "You should go tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know that's what I _should_ do. But _can_ I do it?" Nick asked, "What am I gonna do? Go up to the guy and say 'Hey, Dad! It doesn't matter that you ran out on me and emotionally scarred me for life! I forgive you!'?"

"Well, sure, it sounds weird if you say it like _that_. But...think of it this way! Your dad screwed up, yes, but he's trying, Nick. How many deadbeat dads can say the same? And trying, taking that first step knowing how much you must hate him, that must have been difficult for him. But he did it anyway because he wants to get to know you, he wants to get to know his _son_." Judy reasoned, trying to see it from both sides.

Alright. So for argument's sake, Nick briefly considered that he was genuine. Yet even with that assumption, Nick was still unsure about whether or not he could still forgive him. 'Sorry' didn't erase the past, after all.

"But it might change the future!" Judy proposed, making Nick nearly jump in shock.

"Did I say that out loud?" Nick asked.

"No, I'm a mind reader." Judy drawled.

"Oh, hardy-har-har, then we should go and find Charles Xerus and have you join the X-Mammals." Nick replied, but she did get a laugh out of him, so at least she accomplished something.

"Sure, we will, as soon as you figure out what to do with your dad." Judy pressed, "You can either listen to his side of the story and decide whether you like it or not...or not go and always wonder. So what's it gonna be?"

Again with that 'do it so you don't regret anything' argument. He really hated that argument. Mostly because he knew it was true enough to be convincing.

So, Nick groaned, grabbed one of the pillows and put it over his head as he let himself lie on her bed. Judy couldn't help but smile softly and mimic Nick's actions, her head upside down but right next to his.

"Why do I have a feeling none of this is going to be easy?" Nick sighed.

"'Cause it won't." Judy confirmed, "But whatever happens, you know I'm with you all the way, right?

She couldn't tell given the pillow on his face, but Nick smiled despite himself.

 _Well. You've made it this far and you're still alive, aren't you?_

So finally, Nick grumbled into his pillow, words that even Judy couldn't make out. But she did have a faint guess what he was saying.

"Are you trying to say you know I'm right and you're going to see him tomorrow?" she grinned.

"...Yeah." he muttered poutingly, causing Judy to giggle. She felt so bad for him that she wasn't even gonna tease him on how childish he was being.

"...Do you wanna sleep over tonight?" Judy offered, guessing that he didn't want to be alone tonight.

"...Yes." he said, not-so-secretly relieved that she asked. Only a few seconds later, he felt the weight of several huge blankets being thrown on his chest. By the time he took the pillow off his face and placed it behind his head, Judy had turned the lights off and curled up in her own blankets beside him.

"Tomorrow's a new day..." Judy whispered out loud. It was something she usually told herself after a particularly difficult day, but this time, she whispered it a little bit louder, if only to make sure that Nick heard.

He did, and he honestly hoped she was right...

 _"Yeah, but it might be worse!"_

 _"HEY! Leave those two alone! You already said that once and one of them's going through emotional trauma with his father!"_

 _"OH SHUT UP!"_

 _"NO YOU SHUT UP!"_

...And then suddenly Nick was reminded why they tended to sleep over at his place instead.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but it sounded like you just told me got caught, and I _know_ I must have misheard because you wouldn't do anything to upset me, now, would you, Ed?" Felix asked over the phone.

 _'W-W-W-Well, I'm sorry, boss, I really am, but uh, everything you heard is true. I think she's in their custody as we speak. I don't think-'_

"I see." Felix ended his rambling, "Well, Edward, I believe you know what to do."

 _'I...what do you mean, boss?'_

"I mean, you better make sure that she doesn't talk and that nothing links us to her."

 _'Absolutely, boss, you don't need to worry about that, we'll break her out in no time!'_

"Hmm. I don't think we've understood each other, my friend." Felix said quietly, "You see, we both know that breaking her out would be difficult. Impossible, even."

 _'Well, what are we supposed to do, Boss, let her rot there?'_

On the other line, he only heard silence.

 _'Oh God...boss, you're not suggesting-?'_

"You have 24 hours to break her out. If you don't take care of it, I will."

 _'Oh God no, Felix plea-'_

Felix immediately hung up as he heard the hyena on the other line sobbing and pleading. Well, he gave him a shot, didn't he? Honestly, Felix thought it was admirable of himself to give him a chance even when he detested how blubbering some were when it came to these things. In his opinion, if one wanted something enough, they could get it done. Getting their sister out shouldn't be a problem if they love her so much, now, would it?

His eyes wandered to his cabinet. Never one to refuse himself, Felix opened it and eyed the blue powder, looking almost like fairy dust in the crystal glass container it was in. He took the lid off and pinched some between his paws, then sprinkled it on his nose and sighed in relief.

It helped a little, but not nearly enough. Fortunately, Felix knew his limits and didn't add more. But he couldn't help but rub his temples everytime he thought of his current predicament. Why is it that the intelligent and powerful always had the stupid and the weak as lackeys?

Just as he thought this, two knocks came in and the head of a familiar coyote came out, "Mr. Reynard? May I come in!"

"Ralph! I was just thinking about you." Felix said jovially, closing the cabinet and getting up from his desk, clasping his paws together, "How are we doing with the last job?"

"Well, a couple of complications, Boss. Ed and Banzai say transition is complete but the job's not technically done yet." Ralph said nervously, not wanting to see Felix get mad at him.

But of course, if Felix was mad, he never let it show. Instead, Felix took a deep breath and swallowed any annoyance he might have had. A smarter mammal might have noticed how Felix's optimistic eyes seemed to stay optimistic for too long.

Instead, he turned to his bar and prepared two drinks, offering one to Ralph. Now, Ralph didn't drink. He always avoided drinks because it just reminded him of some dark times. And yet Felix's smile lingered far too long, his eyes switching from the drinks to Ralph, and he slowly began to realize that he wasn't being offered a drink, he was being forced one.

Ralph took it, but the all-too-familiar smell from the drink seemed to overpower everything else. How is it that he knew exactly what drink would set him off?

"That's all right, Ralph. This is the kind of job that can be taken care of whenever we want, after all." Felix said, leaning against his desk casually.

"I-I suppose so...but Mr. Reynard, don't you think I should probably know how the job's supposed to end? I mean, I know the Sniff triplets know their jobs, but how come I don't get to know?" Ralph asked.

And he shouldn't have. Somehow, Ralph knew he crossed a line. Maybe it was because despite Felix's optimistic expression, he began to clutch his desk tightly. For the first time, Ralph saw how forced his boss' smile was, as if someone had grabbed a knife and carved his lips to an upward motion instead of being a genuine smile.

"Or...you know what? The Sniffs have been in your company far longer than I have. They probably know better. Forget I asked." Ralph quickly said.

Finally, Felix's smile shortened and became more genuine. It suddenly occurred to Ralph how quickly he had switched.

"Oh, it's quite alright to be curious, Ralph! Just remember what curiosity did to the cat...and dog and shrew and perhaps even coyotes?" Felix asked innocently, but followed it by a harmless laugh because that was all it was to him. A joke. Something to be taken lightly.

So Ralph laughed along because he was expected to, but the unease in his voice didn't escape Felix. Good.

Long after the laughter died down, the discomfort plague Ralph. Felix seemed to act like everything was fine, but there was something that was simply wrong with that moment. Silence when there should have been music. A party filled with thousands of guests but not one of them dancing or chatting or drinking, just staring at each other in loud silence, no expression on their faces, blank slates on empty backgrounds.

Ralph thought about it and suddenly, he wondered if there was ever a time when the fox didn't make him feel that way at some point. While he didn't notice his actions, Felix saw how the coyote began to back away.

 _Scared, are we?_

"So, did I ever tell you how my little reunion went?" Felix chirped, taking a long drink in his glass. Whether he realized it or not, Ralph mirrored his actions.

"No, sir! But um...how did it go?" Ralph asked, nervously trying to change the subject.

"Oh, splendidly!" Felix chirped, "Well, it began as a rough start, but if I know my blood, and I do, they'll come around."

 _They always do._

Ralph sighed. In his head, no matter how unnerving his boss made him, he figured that as long as a mammal had morals and honor regarding his family, then they can't be too bad. Maybe around the people they love, they act differently, more like themselves.

Sure, he could be a little...odd, but Ralph would just attribute that to the fact that he was, after all, his boss, and he could be a little jittery...After all, how scary can a family man be?

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, sir."

"Say, Cannisson." Felix called out, "Has little Tracy ever had a, um...how shall I put this? Has she ever had a _friend_ that you disapproved of?"

Ralph thought back to it and he could remember the unease he felt whenever he saw Tracy befriending that zebra friend of hers. Of course, that could also just be his overprotective dad side coming through as he always felt that the zebra had a little crush on Tracy. "I guess so..."

Felix nodded in understanding, "And how did you deal with it?"

"Well, there wasn't much I could do from my distance." Ralph admitted in defeat, "But if I could deal with it, and if I knew Tracy was hanging out with some unsavory characters, I guess what I would do is do everything I can to make sure that Tracy knows that there are much more interesting things out there than her friends.

Felix smiled, "I like the way you think, Cannisson. Why they call you an unfit father, I'll never know."

And there it goes again. Whatever discomfort Ralph felt, it disappeared as soon as he heard the compliment.

But that's because Felix knew that fatherhood was somewhat of an insecurity in males like Ralph. Their absence from their children's lives tended to make them question themselves, wondering if they were good enough. By disproving his worst fears about himself, Felix automatically won back Ralph's loyalty. For the time being, anyway.

He may not have been the smartest lackey, but he did know children. Felix knew he won the round the second Nicholas took the paper. He had no doubt that he would show up. He also had no doubt that Nicholas would put up a fight.

But somehow, Felix also knew that Nicholas wouldn't be the difficult one to persuade.

 _His friends, however, will be another story..._

* * *

 **AN: So, little confession, this chapter was more or less filler. OR really, it was used to get another look at Wildehopps' relationship. I wanted to go deeper in showing the trust they have for each other. The proof? Nick may have accepted to go see his dad, but he wasn't completely sold on the idea until he knew that he had Judy's support. And yes, they do frequently have sleepovers. On the same bed. No furry-I mean, no funny business. Hey, it happens with male friends!**

 **For now, the story is rather Nick-centered, which is normal. But as soon as Nick patches things up with his dad, the story'll even itself out as I'll write more in Judy's POV.**

 **At this point of the story, I still consider this the Act I of the story, where we're still discovering the characters and Nick and Felix are still strangers to each other. However, the interesting part is when it gets to Act II, which is my personal favorite and where the real fun begins.**

 **In case you were wondering, Act I is almost done. I think I'll have 2 or 3 chapters on it before we move onto my favorite part. It's a slow burn, but I think when you see the result, it'll be worth it. Stay tuned!**


	7. Chapter 6: Hardest Words To Say

Or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some learn this lesson the hard way.

 **AN: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters. It belongs to Disney. And the very famous quote 'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain' is not mine either, but from the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Hardest Words To Say**

Now, Finnick wasn't the type of fox who usually snooped in personal lives. In fact, he made it a rule to never get involved with anything for reasons other than business. And yet here he was, in a stakeout car somewhere in Sahara Square across the block from an ice cream parlor, with binoculars.

"You know, when Nick finds out about us spying on him-"

" _If_ he finds out." Judy corrected, her paws clutching the binoculars pressed against her eyes, "And judge all you want, you're here, aren't you?"

...Okay, so he may have been hustled by the bunny into spying on Nick. What could he say? She really was good.

"Does Nick know how much you're meddling?" Finnick questioned. Not really out of judgement, but out of curiousity.

"Consider it payback for Budapets." Judy reminded him, making Finnick roll his eyes.

"Oh, my God, get over it! It's been months!" Finnick cried, "I swear, we ruin one of your dates and-"

"FOUR! Yeah, don't think I don't know about Catmandu!"

"He really needs to listen to me when I say not to tell you anything." Finnick muttered, "Besides, you should consider yourself flattered. Means he cares about you."

"Well, then he should consider himself flattered that I'm spying on him because I care about him." Judy justified.

Finnick rolled his eyes, but seemed to accept this. Meddling or not, that didn't mean he was about to stop her. After all, he wanted in on this, too.

"Hey, rabbit, I think that's him..." Finnick said.

Judy looked closer and right on cue, she spotted the older red fox, in a nice tea green formal shirt and jeans that somehow looked more expensive despite its simplicity.

Judy couldn't help the gasp that escaped her. This fox seemed just slightly taller than Nick, but had almost the exact same shade of green eyes. At least, that's what someone who didn't know Nick would say. But somehow, they seemed so different. She couldn't exactly point out why she believed that.

But still, she couldn't deny the uncanny resemblance.

"He looks just like him..."

"No kidding. I thought it was his twin. Wow, how old he is? For a fox who must be in his 50s, he looks great!" Finnick exclaimed.

So he did... _Huh._ Now Judy wondered what exactly his story was. She had assumed that perhaps this Felix Reynard left because he wanted to provide for his family somehow. But the fox in that ice cream parlor did not look like a fox who has led a difficult life for the past two decades.

 _Hey. So, he's come into a little money for the past few years. Don't be so presumptuous._

Judy shook those thoughts away from her head. This _was_ a stakeout car, after all. It's probably just getting her into 'suspicious cop' mode.

"There's Nick!" Judy cried as she saw Nick a few feet away from the parlor.

But instead of walking right ahead, Nick stopped. He stepped away from the parlor...then back towards it. Then away again.

"But why isn't he going in?" Finnick asked out loud.

Both of them simply watched as Nick paced back and forth. Then their eyes wandered back to the poor fox sitting alone in a booth, eyeing his watch. But the more Nick paced, the further he seemed to be getting away.

"That's it. I'm calling him." Judy decided, whipping out her phone and pressing 1 on speed dial.

"Put it on speaker!" Finnick demanded, leaning in as Judy put the phone in the middle.

"Does Nick even know that you know about this?" Judy asked, pausing before she hit the speaker phone.

"...Isn't that a question you should have asked _before_ you asked me to do this?" Finnick said.

"Good point." Judy agreed, hitting the speaker, "But just don't talk. He'll know we're up to something."

Finnick nodded and both listened to the phone ringing while keeping their eye on Nick. They watched as he received the call and immediately answered as soon as he saw who called.

"Bastard. Usually takes me three rings for him to answer." Finnick muttered.

"Shh!" Judy said, "Hey, Nick! So? How's the bonding?"

"Hasn't started yet." Nick admitted, "He's running late."

Judy looked at Finnick, who mouthed 'that little hustler!'. Judy shook her head and went back to talking to Nick.

"Running late, huh?" Judy repeated skeptically, "Oh, well, he won't be too long, I'm sure. After all, it is rude to keep a person waiting."

"Ha ha...yes, it is." Nick replied nervously. They could see him nervously gulping and playing with his collar, which suddenly seemed too tight.

"Well. I just wanted to call and make sure you went through with it." Judy said.

"Oh, psh, yeah! Of course!" Nick said with an absurd high-pitched voice. Unusual of the former hustler to sound so bad at lying. But over the years, Judy's learned that when it came to things he truly cared about, Nick was horrendously bad at lying. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Pff, yeah, I don't know why I was worried. I was telling myself that you'd be too scared, but then I was like 'Nick? Scared? Never'! This is the same Nick who didn't run from a savage jaguar when he knew I was in trouble and stood up to the police chief! If he wasn't scared of that, what's a little dinner with his dad?" Judy said cheerfully.

Finnick raised his eyebrow curiously and as he looked over to Nick, he noticed how confidence began to built as soon as Nick's back straightened and he stopped pacing.

"Yeah...yeah, right! Right, this is absolutely nothing." Nick laughed nervously. "Hey, Carrots?...Thanks."

Finnick couldn't help but watch the exchange. When he looked at his friend, he had a smile on his face that Finnick's never really seen. Not a smirk or even a grin. Just a lopsided, soft and almost goofy little smile.

And when Finnick looked back at the bunny beside him, the look on her face seemed almost identical, except it was her eyes that was making the disgustingly cute expression.

"You're welcome, Nick. Tell me how it goes, okay?" Judy asked.

"Over dinner tonight? Eight-thirty?" Nick suggested.

"Sure. Good luck!" Judy answered as she hung up.

With more confidence and energy than Finnick would have guessed, Nick quickly walked into the ice cream parlor. Part of him also assumed that Nick walked fast on purpose before he could lose the nerve.

But as he looked back at the bunny beside him, Finnick found himself both impressed and almost fascinated.

"You know, I used to think you were just really good at hustling him." Finnick casually said.

"Oh? Not anymore?" Judy questioned.

"Nah." Finnick waved that idea off, "You just have a lot of influence on each other, that's all."

Judy looked back at Finnick, who had been looking through his binoculars once again. She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, but somehow shrugged it off, ignoring him.

Instead, she directed her attention towards Nick, who locked eyes with his father and began to walk towards his table...

* * *

They muttered a short and brief high before Nick awkwardly sat at the table. He acted like a kid in front of the school principal, some higher form of authority that couldn't really harm Nick, at least not in the real could-cause death kind of harm, but a different kind of harm. The knot formed in his stomach and it still wouldn't leave. In fact, every second he spent with Felix seemed to make it worse.

An awkward silence followed. Nick wondered if he should talk first, but thankfully, Felix decided to break the silence first.

"I, uh, ordered those blueberry cheesecakes I mentioned. I remembered how crazy you were about blueberries when you were a kit." Felix gave a warm smile, but Nick barely reacted.

"Thanks..." he answered stiffly.

Strange. A part of him wanted to talk, to at least fill up the empty silences. Yet something stopped him, so instead it resulted into this awkward silence.

Luckily, a waitress quickly arrived and as they tended to do, didn't even notice the rising tension. "Hi again! I know I took your orders, but I never did ask what you wanted to drink?"

Almost as if they had practiced it, both Nick and Felix answered at the same time, "Coffee, black, no sugar."

Nick immediately looked back at Felix, who did the same. Felix was the first to laugh nervously, "How 'bout that? Crazy coincidence."

"Yeah...coincidence." Nick repeated, trying to hide the surprise in his voice.

"Got it!" the waitress said cheerfully as she turned to get their orders.

Odd as it were, Nick found himself wishing that the waitress would come back, if only to have someone or even something to talk about. Instead, he found himself wondering what was he supposed to say. Or do.

Despite it being the very goal of the meeting, Nick wanted to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. He decided that while he may be here to hear what his father had to say, that didn't mean he had to forgive him. All he had to do was get through this afternoon snack/pre-dinner and for the last five minutes before he leaves, he'll ask for the check and then boom. Nick and Felix may part knowing that they've made their peace and they would move on with their lives.

In the meantime, he'd just have to avoid talking about _that_. Even if that meant having meaningless small talk as if he weren't sitting in front of the fox who ruined his life, then so be it.

"So, how'd you find out about this place?" Nick asked. Simple question. Something worthy of a small talk. Meaningless. Casual.

"It's funny you ask." Felix chuckled. "Your mom and I met at this very ice cream parlor. Took her out on our first date here, too."

 _Well, so much for casual._

"I always dreamed of having my own family and bringing them here...Well, if you can believe it, one meal here was a bit out of our budget. But we'd always come here every Sunday and buy one blueberry cheesecake just for you." Felix smiled.

But Nick recoiled, fighting the urge to cringe. That did not escape Felix's eyes.

"Um. I can't recall." Nick admitted.

"You will, when the cheesecakes arrive." Felix promised.

"Maybe I will..." Nick answered.

 _Another awkward silence. Are you trying to break a record?_

"It means a lot to me that you came, Nicholas." Felix said, once again breaking the silence, "I know it mustn't have been easy."

 _Yeah, no kidding._

"It wasn't. I almost backed out, but a friend of mine convinced me otherwise." Nick admitted.

"He must be a smart friend." Felix nodded approvingly, waiting to see his reaction.

"Yeah, she is." Nick corrected.

Now, _this_ Felix found interesting. Somebody else might have simply figured that it's the story of a simple friendship. But he knew better. He knew his son would never listen to anyone unless he truly cared about them. He also knew that his son didn't want to see him and that it must have taken someone he held in high regards to convince him otherwise.

"Oh, is _she_ now?" Felix teased.

Something inside seemed to be stronger than he was, because Nick found himself gulping. "She's just a friend."

Felix snorted, "Yeah. Right. I used to say the same thing about your mother."

What Felix thought he was doing was unconsciously gaining approval from Nick because he kept reminding him of a familiar topic. In this case, his mother.

But what he didn't know was all his subtle 'hints' just made Nick think of a bigger picture.

His mom and father met each other at an ice cream parlor. His father used to tell others than she was 'just a friend'. Nick couldn't help but create a picture in his mind. The similarities between _him_ and _her_...and his parents.

But the only difference? He would never abandon Judy the way Felix did.

"Well, obviously, she wasn't a very good friend if you could leave her behind, now, was she?" Nick spat.

 _And obviously, 'casual small talk' is thrown out the window._

Felix froze, not expecting Nick to react this way. The way this conversation is supposed to go is: Felix gets Nick talking about his mystery girl, then Felix would talk about the importance of love and somehow, make a connection with how much he loves his own son.

Needless to say, this was...a bit derailing. But that's alright. Felix Reynard was nothing if not a good improvisor.

So, he took a deep breath, made sure his ears were down and began to play with his paws, avoiding eye contact.

"Yes, I...you've waited long enough. Before you tell me anything important about your life, you deserve to know what happened." Felix agreed.

"Well, it has been nearly two decades so, yeah, it'd be nice to know." Nick answered sarcastically, hiding the impatience and eagerness in his voice. And honestly, the fear. He's waited for so long for these answers. Now that he was about to get them, he wasn't so sure he wanted them anymore.

"Well...do you remem-No, of course not, you were just a kit. But I do suppose that you've been taught in history. The Lemming Brothers Bank crash?" Felix asked.

Nick nodded, "Caused a lot of banks to close, lot of people tried to sell their stocks but when there's too many offers, the value goes down so the country went into an economic depression."

"Yeah, times were rough...And it had come at the worst time, too. We wanted to sign you up in a nice school, because you started talking early and we knew early on you were going to be great. But no school could take you at first. We had to move to Happytown to make sure you'd even _get_ an education. For the longest time, we've lived off canned foods and fast foods. Our apartment, the one you grew up in, before we couldn't even afford heat or electricity. We had to use candles all the time." Felix described.

On Nick's part, he stood there in disbelief. He remembered being too young to truly be a part of that Great Depression, but he remembered as an older kit hearing about how wealthy mammals had to live afterwards. He even remembered how some of the middle class lived. Ironically, his school only briefly talked about the poorest of them, saying how they ended up homeless or dying from disease or lack of food.

But he never would have imagined that he was one of them. To some extent, he knew his mom lived through it, but she seemed so strong that however she went through that period, it didn't seem like it really effected her.

Suddenly, his heart ached as he considered was his mom must have gone through. She would kill herself about how she couldn't afford a scout's uniform when Nick was nine. He couldn't even imagine what it was like for her not to be able to afford food and water and heat for him as an infant.

"Eventually, it got to the point where even the landlady threatened to kick us out of the house if we didn't pay the rent, which she raised to an absurd amount that we could have never paid for." Felix explained, "Wendy's job had been cut a few hours since nobody really came in to buy expensive medicine. And then I realized something: the medicine didn't _have_ to be expensive..." Felix trailed off.

Even the dumbest mammal could guess where he was going with this. The cop part of Nick wanted to be disgusted, but that quickly disappeared when Nick knew very well that he might have done the same thing.

Actually, no. Nick knew himself. For the ones he loved, there was no telling how far he'd go to save them.

"So you stole and sold drugs..." Nick finished.

Felix gave a sad chuckle, "I appreciate you saying I sold them instead of outright calling me a drug dealer. It means the same thing, yet different words can change everything."

"Oh, you're still a drug dealer, all right." Nick agreed, "...But I understand why you did what you did."

"Thank you..." Felix said softly, briefly looking up to his son's eyes before looking back down again.

"Did Mom know?" Nick asked.

"No, no, she didn't. But between you and me, I think she had her suspicions. She knew it was wrong, but she also knew that what was happening to us was wrong, so if she did know, she never breathed a word." Felix explained, then made sure to smile, "She knew if she did, it would have broken me. She was always considerate like that..."

Yes, yes she was. She was the same with Nick, as he recalled. Anytime he would bring her gifts or bring money somehow, she never questioned how it got there. She just smiled and trusted him to never truly hurt anyone.

"Drug dealers always get caught one way or another." Nick concluded, "So how did you?"

"Well, no one really noticed me. Until, of course, the recovery began. I tried to stop, but by then, someone caught on that someone had been stealing and selling drugs in Happytown. But they never knew who it was." Felix explained.

Nick wasn't surprised. If even with today's technology, it was difficult to track these particular mammals down, he couldn't imagine what it must have been like back then.

"You have to understand...Wendy's not like me. I was good at talking, sure, but Wendy was just all charm. She was the kind of gal you couldn't help but like. But even so, if she was tied to me, she would have lost her job and you had such a bright future ahead of you and...Well, my little secret, the one I kept from Wendy and everyone else, I don't regret it because it saved you. We got to keep the apartment and you got a chance to be raised right."

So, if Nick was hearing this right, his dad was his hero. He was there to save him. Just not the way he thought.

"What I do regret, though? I regret that it made me leave you two. I never wanted any of you to be involved. So one day, I made a decision that nearly killed me." Felix explained.

"You left us..." Nick breathed.

"I left you, to make sure no one would after come after you. I never told Wendy why I left. I packed my bags, told her one night that this would be our last dinner as a family, and I asked her to never tell you about me because I promise I would come back one day. When it was safe and when I could come back as someone you would be proud of." Felix explained. This time, he kept eye contact with him at all times.

Felix saw the difference in before and now. Before, Nick stayed back and leaned on his chair, never getting far enough from him. Now, he leaned closely, his paws on the table. But he knew there was still that hint of distrust.

"I found work over the years. Honest, decent work. I always sent most of my money to you and your mother. Eventually, well, it lead to me to where I am now." Felix explained

"And yet, us finding each other was an accident." Nick remembered.

"Was it?" Felix asked, "I don't believe in coincidences. I believe everything happens for a reason. I've been looking for you all these years, but when I found you, you weren't the kit I left. You were already a grown fox. You became so much more than I could have ever hoped for...The truth is, son, you may have grown to be brave, but I'm still the same coward that left. That coward took one look at what you've become and was convinced you'd never want to see me. So I never tried. And yet here you are and here I am. I would have never been brave enough to take this step, but I think fate pushed us together that night and gave me a chance, so I took it."

Maybe it was fate, maybe it wasn't. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Nick doubt himself. Enough to make him wonder if the hate he had was misguided...

"I don't expect you to forgive me..I don't live under a rock, son. I know what a hero you've become and I'm proud of you..."

' _I'm proud of you._ ' Those were words Nick had always wanted to hear from his father. A lifetime ago, he would have beamed at the compliment and thought the very world of it. But the words he waited so long to hear had been spoken far too late and now they were so void of meaning that he might as well not have said anything at all.

"And the fact that you've become what you are shows that you've never needed me."

" _But I did_!" Nick protested, "I didn't get to where I am now by some kind of magical lamp that grants me wishes, I had to work for it! I had to suffer before becoming me and if you were around, then maybe...maybe I wouldn't have to wait for so long to be..."

 _To be what? To be good? To be fixed? To be okay again? To be more than what he thought he was?_

Yes, yes, yes and yes. But to tell Felix that would be to let him know that he still held some kind of influence over him. And the last thing Nick wanted was for Felix to assume he cared.

So instead, he lied. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters. What's done is done. You left us but I grew up perfectly fine. As far as I'm concerned, I may have needed you once, but I don't need you _now_." Nick decided.

 _Alright. You've said what you always wanted to say. Now move. Leave. Turn your back on him like he did to you._

But he didn't. Couldn't. Even as he screamed at himself to move, something forced him to stay put.

 _You mean like fear?_

But what would he have to fear?

"You're right..." Felix confessed. "You're absolutely right. You don't need me, but that doesn't excuse what I did and...and I understand if you decide that you will never forgive me. And I just wanted to thank you for giving me the chance to explain my story...now that I have, I realize it's little consolation. No matter what I would have said, it would never have erased those years of solitude you've suffered. But Nicholas, even though I have no right and I know this makes me a terrible person, I still have to ask...I want to be a part of your life, if you let me. I realize it's not going to be easy and it just might be the hardest thing you'll ever do. But if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, to know I never intended to hurt you or your mother, then...then please. Let me be the father I never was."

It was everything Nick had ever hoped for and more. When he was younger, daydreams of meeting his dad would often involve ridiculous scenarios where he saved him and his mom. In some versions, his dad was a wealthy tycoon who would bring them to live in his fancy mansion and they'd all be happy. Later, he grew more and more cynical, of course. Suddenly, 'reunion scenes' in his mind became bitter, hateful words thrown without any regret, then never to be seen again.

To Nick, it became more of a reality than anything that now that his father was offering him his childhood dream, he couldn't help but reject it.

"Lovely promise." Nick sneered, "But how exactly do you plan on following through?"

"I can't change the past, Nicholas...but hopefully, I can do something about our future. That is, if you think you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Well, he had that much right. He couldn't change the past and all the sorries in the world wouldn't undo the damage he caused. That's how Nick was so sure he was going to say no.

But then he thought of the other children. How many of them heard their fathers apologize? How many have dreamed for a moment like this? He was one of them. He knew how they felt.

In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but feel like he owed it to those children. He owed it to the kit in him, who once dreamed of a mother and a father and home-cooked meals with the family and a nice house.

"I don't want to forgive you." Nick admitted. His eyes shot right up, not wanting to look at him, or acknowledging how shiny his eyes got. "I don't want to, but...I will anyway."

Felix released a sigh and for the first time that day, Nick saw him smile. "Oh, Nicholas, I-You don't know how much this-I mean, I'm...I'm..."

Despite himself, Nick actually smiled back. A lot softer than his father's, but a part of him was somehow touched by how speechless Felix had been.

Just as he was about to suggest that they could do something next week, Felix had gotten up from his chair, pulled Nick up and quickly gave him a bone-crushing hug. Well, it should have been bone crushing but you don't stay friends with Judy Hopps and Benjamin Clawhauser without learning how to develop bones of steel.

At first, Felix had been the only one who seemed comfortable with the hug. It happened so fast that it felt like he had whiplash from it. He didn't know how many seconds had passed since his father first hugged him.

But somehow, he closed his eyes and a memory he never even knew existed replayed in his memory. A vague, unclear memory, only fractions of images and blurred words were understood. One thing was certain: this was the first time he remembered this.

 _A broken-down apartment. His apartment. His childhood home, but far from what he could recognize. Barely any light except the fire from the melting, strongly-scented candles. The harsh cold and cries of the rain outside, with little droplets sneaking from a small hole on the ceiling. The shabby and dirty lace curtains dancing violently in the air against the strong wind._

 _Nick stared and blinked as Dad yelled for some reason, and Mom put her trembling hands on her face. She ran into another room, slamming the door. The noise was loud and Nick was cold and tired and hungry and scared and didn't know what was happening and couldn't ask what was wrong, even though he knew something was._

 _He screamed and then he cried his eyes out, trying to be louder than everything bad he could hear and feel._

 _But then he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, lifting him from his crib and into the air, then rocking him gently. "Shh...it's okay, it's okay, Nicky. You're okay...We're all going to be okay."_

 _Nick opened his eyes slowly, afraid that the world he'll see when he opens them will be cruel and unforgiving again. But instead, he saw large, warm green eyes, filled with kindness and concern and sadness, but a smile that tried to mask them._

 _Nick giggled, his little paw thumping the muzzle in front of him. Dad's nose was so big to him that it was almost funny._

 _"Yeah, that's it. Don't cry. Never cry. And if you do, don't let anyone see." Dad said. Nick had no idea what he was saying, but he sounded so sure at the time, so Nick listened. Or at least tried to pay attention. "Like your old man, you know? I could have let them see. I could have let them_ all _see what I've done. Who I am and who think they are, but I don't. I don't let any of that get to me. And you shouldn't either, not anyone. Not your friends, not your teachers, not even the pretty vixen wife you'll have someday. Never, ever let them see that they get to you..."_

 _Nick laughed again. He didn't understand why his Silly Dad was acting so serious. But as long as he's here to protect him from the cold and rain and bad noises, then he didn't care what Dad did._

 _"I'll tell you a secret, Nicky: in this whole, wide, wicked world, the only ones we can trust is each other." Felix smiled, and he pulled his son in for a hug. He never expected him to return it, but by some sheer marvel, little baby Nick followed and hugged his father, his tiny arms barely going around his neck._

When Nick snapped back into reality, he hadn't noticed that his arms had been wrapped around his father as well. He gasped as he realized that this time, his arms were not only long enough to hug his father, but he had actually grown bigger than his father. The little kit who saw his father as this big, god-like supermammal now saw his father for who he truly is: a fox who has made a lot of mistakes and is willing to redeem himself.

Now, doesn't that sound familiar?

So Nick couldn't help but close his eyes, refusing to let anyone in the humble little ice cream parlor see that he was actually crying for the first time in nearly two years.

"I'm sorry..." Nick said softly. _About how I acted. How I treated you. How I resented you._

"I forgive you..." Felix smiled.

* * *

"Rabbit, are you crying?" Finnick asked, purposely keeping the binoculars on his eyes so he would avoid looking at her.

"No..." Judy denied, but her eyes were getting shinier by the minute, "Are you?"

"Hell, no. This car is just so old that the dust is getting into my eyes..." Finnick teared up, "Oh, who am I kidding? Look at how happy my boy is!"

"He is!" Judy squealed, "He's...he's finally got his family back together!"

Finnick couldn't help but agree. They had just witnessed a milestone in their friend's life. A part of him couldn't help but feel happy for Nick. Nick's helped him through some hard times, after all. Never let it be said that the fox easily forgot his friends. Nick's helped Finnick find a job, a nice place to live and overall a better life. The kits they were once so many years ago would have never believed them.

 _Look how far we've come..._

"You know what?" Judy smiled, "Everything's changing, now, I can feel it in my bones."

Yes, a lot of changes have been happening in their lives these past few years. Most of them had been for the better. But the double-edged sword in change is that whether it is for the worse or for the best, whether it makes or breaks you, you can't stop it. Some will fight it, of course, and might even delay it, but eventually change is inevitable.

The bad news with change is that so rarely can you go back, so caution is required. But how could anyone ever tell someone to be careful with their hearts or their dreams?

Well, you can't. And sometimes, they have to learn some lessons the hard way.

* * *

 **AN: Ever notice who exactly says the words 'I'm sorry' and who doesn't?...But that's none of my business.**

 **Next chapter: Wildehopps at dinner. A very happy Nick. And a little murder.**


	8. Chapter 7: If I Didn't Have You

**Author's recommendation is to have the Monster Inc. theme song playing as you read this chapter. Well, at least for the part with Nick and Judy and the Nocturnal District. For the parts with Nick and Felix, then the uh, final part, I haven't found a particular song that particularly inspired me, but the Monsters Inc theme song definitely goes for the Nocturnal District scene.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: If I Didn't Have You**

 _You and me together_

 _That's how it always should be_

 _One without the other_

 _Don't mean nothing to me_

-'If I Didn't Have You' by Billy Crystal and John Goodman

* * *

Nick remembered the first time he started to notice the little things. As a kit, he was fascinated with observing every action that could be made: from the simple breaking of an egg that his mom could turn into an entire cake to a single snowflake being moulded into a snowman. He supposed that this was one of the reasons he wanted to join the scouts in the first place: to him, a single action, no matter how small, could be the start of something even bigger than he could even imagine.

In hindsight, the simple words 'I'm sorry' were no different. As simple as they were, they represented a world of feelings that could not be expressed. In addition to being an apology, however, it also represented the possibility for a new beginning, a chance to start over.

And it was a chance he and his father gladly took. When the apology was uttered, they both sat down and told all kinda of stories about each other. When the waitress came back with the blueberry cheesecake, an odd sense of familiarity hit Nick as soon as he tasted it.

So, first of all, his father was right, it was the best cheesecake in all of Zootopia. But the minute Nick tasted it, he closed his eyes and suddenly, he was a kit again, and his mom was as young and beautiful as he had remembered and there was his dad, with the same lazy grin he'd inherited and a carefree air around him, challenging him on who could finish their cheesecake first.

After that nostalgic memory, the conversation seemed to flow like rivers and a pattern seemed to emerge: Nick would say something, then Felix would smile and say 'that's funny because when I was your age' and it would turn out that Felix had a story that would seem completely identical to Nick's: both Nick and Felix had a difficult time focusing in class, yet they still managed to be the brightest students. As they grew older, they grew up to be pranksters or troublemakers; suddenly the straight-A students became the kids that parents would point to and say 'I don't want you hanging out with boys like them'. They both shared a love for blueberries. They both excelled in baseball and were usually the fastest runners.

What had changed, though, seemed to be that Felix never quite hit rock bottom like Nick did. Felix never lived on the streets, for one. Never had to hustle other mammals out of their money to survive. Never had to go to night school to get his degree. Despite being a fox, Felix never faced the extreme discrimination Nick had. Mind you, this could be because as a respectful fox who always had a degree and came from a relatively nice family, Felix was scarcely suspected of anything other than model behavior. Then again, this was during a time when Happytown actually lived up to its name and included all-predator families and very little prey families, and the only prey families grew to tolerate and even welcome other preds.

But Nick never held it against him. He was jealous, sure, but mostly in awe of the things his father had accomplished. While Nick's own accomplishments were nothing to laugh at, what Felix had done was simply amazing.

"A facility in Animalia?" Nick exclaimed, genuinely shocked at this point. His father had mentioned that he majored in business and minored in psychology, but Nick would have never thought this would lead to an actual facility in the world's leading 'scientific' districts where great innovators, scientists and researchers all gathered to create the great 'Land of Tomorrow'.

Felix chuckled at the obvious awe in Nick's voice, "Just a small one. We are only getting started, after all. To be honest, I'm surprised the city even approved of it."

"What are you researching?" Nick asked curiously.

"Animal behavior, mostly." Felix said nonchalantly, "You know, we were the facility who first observed the mammals who have been affected by the Night Howlers."

Nick seemed surprised at this, "I thought Cliffside was in charge of that? And that the doctors under Cliffside were operating under illegal conditions in the first place?"

"Well, yes, but I meant _after_ they'd been brought from Cliffside." Felix corrected himself, "Big job...Most of us were scared, you know? There were a lot of predators among us and, well...Let's just say, I'm glad you saved the day when you did."

"Actually, it wasn't so much me as it was Judy..." Nick said almost sheepishly, rubbing his neck.

 _Here it is..._

The very thing Felix wanted to avoid talking about and what Nick wanted to talk about the most. For a split second, he saw the obnoxious smile of that rabbit and her big annoying purple eyes in his head and his grip on his knife tightened. He knew he wouldn't be able to pretend about this particular subject. And yet, he couldn't risk Nick's wrath and him leaving, not when the line was so fragile to begin with. The very conversations they've been having for the past few hours seemed to border on chit-chats, like they were old awkward friends who were never really friends from high school getting reacquainted.

 _But you got him to say yes once. Surely, you can get him to say yes again._

"Oh, I'm sure you had a lot to do with it, too." Felix waved it off, trying not to sound too eager to change the subject. "You've done a lot for us, Nicholas. I mean it. Not just with the Night Howlers, but with us predators and foxes...well, you've seen how little Todd worshipped you, didn't he?"

Nick chuckled, remembering the face of the little kit, "Guess so..."

Even Felix couldn't help but remember Todd's face. Then something odd happened: his mind started to wander beyond his control and soon enough, so did his mouth.

Felix chuckled and began to ramble without realizing it, "I wonder if he'll be anything like you were when you were a kit talking about your heroes. I once told you that you were related to Robin Hood because you were a fox with green eyes, and ever since you would tell that to anyone and everyone who would listen. Saying that someday, you'd save the poor like he did. Your mother and I couldn't even convince you to wear anything other than-"

"Green, because I wanted everyone to think of Robin Hood when they looked at me all the time..." Nick finished, his eyes wide in shock. He just couldn't believe that his father could remember such a thing...

 _And honestly, neither couldn't Felix._

Whatever the reason he remembered it, whether it was because of how ridiculous Nick sounded or because of how often he did in in public and embarrassed him, Felix cleared his throat, as if he were clearing that temporary loss of control away.

That's when Felix suddenly noticed the clock behind Nick's head: it was 19:30 and he remembered he had to deliver a very important promise.

"Nicholas, believe me, there is nothing I would like to do more than to stay and chat, but unfortunately, I have a work-related issue I swore I would get to by this time." Felix explained.

That look of disappointment didn't escape him, but as expected, his son tried to look as if he didn't care much. "Yeah, I get it. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? And it is getting pretty late, I mean-It's almost eight?! Wow, um, actually, now that you mention it, I do also have a da-not a date, but I do have to go, as well."

Felix couldn't resist the smirk on his face. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that his son probably had some vixen in his life. Still, he was a little curious.

"It's been great, son...really." Felix smiled, "And I meant what I said. I don't want this to be just a one-time reunion, so listen: tomorrow, why don't you stop by the facility? I'll probably be done around nine, which'll be pretty late but I could show you an exclusive tour of Animalia, and not just the cheesy tourist tour we give out every Wednesday."

Given that Animalia's district was apparently a wonderland of science but also highly restrictive to the public due to its research, Nick was completely on board with the idea. Besides, this meant that Felix wasn't lying earlier when he said he still wanted to be in his son's life.

At this point, Nick's brain was screaming at him not to get his hopes up so much. Right now, that one apology snowballed into the return of his childhood daydreams, of his perfect father coming back and apologizing and everything would be perfect. But Nick's brain told him that this was not a daydream and it was dangerous to expect too much of these meetings.

And yet, the little kit in Nick was ecstatic, wanting to bounce off the walls and go back to his classmates and brag all about his super-cool dad who works in Animalia and treats him to cheesecakes every week and gives him special tours.

So, Nick decided to listen to both: he wanted to indulge himself by hoping for the best, but treaded cautiously. Or so he would try.

"Sure. I don't have work tomorrow, so I should be able to swing by." Nick agreed nonchalantly, unable to hide the slight twinkle in his eyes.

And with that, him and his father paid for the food, walked each other out and parted ways, giving a humble goodbye. Both were afraid that the other might have expected a hug of some sort, but they silently agreed that they've reached their hugging quota for the day. Nick watched as his father walk a few blocks away, then nearly dropped his jaw when he saw him getting into a matte black Jaguar car.

And not for the final time that night, little Nicky reappeared with one single thought in his head: _My dad has a Jaguar...he's so cool!_

* * *

In all of Zootopia, Judy Hopps' favorite district was undoubtedly the Nocturnal District. According to Zootopian history, it had been one of the trickiest districts to form and was only created a few years after the last district when they realized that nocturnal mammals who didn't necessarily want to conform to daytime hours needed a place to stay.

They'd created an entire world under Zootopia, it seemed. Their buildings were unique, colorful wooden structures with curved roofs and sliding doors. Despite the darkness, every inch of the district had been covered with lanterns placed on every corner outside and beautiful golden lights emerged from the windows. Here, you could either go somewhere by walking, taking your bike or taking a water taxi as the underground canals could take anyone here anywhere.

The best way Judy could describe the Nocturnal District was like a never-ending carnival, one where mammals seemed to be constantly up and about and in high spirits. The energy had been contagious, spreading everywhere. It took form in the lively jazz music that emitted from the joyful street musicians and their saxophones, cellos, drums and bass. Nobody walked here, they danced their way to wherever they were headed.

No one was ever tired because the street vendors and the many restaurants often offered food from around the world at a fair price. Some were even kind enough to offer them for free. The air was filled with the scents of exotic spices cooked together and even some sugared goods like fried ice cream and buttermilk egg-cakes.

No one could ever be unhappy here, which is why Nick bought an apartment here in the first place. It was surprisingly expensive, but it was well-worth it. His apartment had been in the quieter sides of the district which had been a perfect transition from the twenty minute walk it took there, like walking through a dream and finally coming home and getting some rest.

But some nights, Nick and Judy couldn't help but linger a little too long in their main street. Nights when they couldn't sleep, too hopped up on adrenaline or celebrating something or another, they often ended up here until they were so tired that they'd have to take a boat to Nick's place in the Pondlands street.

Judy had waited in front of Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu for Nick, always one to arrive early. The nippy air called for her to wear her blue coat and that violet scarf Nick got her for her birthday. Her ears were down, a slight result from the chilly air, but she could smell the warm air from inside the restaurant and the scent of delicious foods being prepared.

A couple there had caught her eye. In particular, a cat and a dog there together. Judy couldn't help but smile as the cat and dog were obviously a couple given the way they were seated close to each other. She looked around, expecting a scornful eye, but surprisingly found none.

 _Maybe the hate for interspecies relationships aren't as common as we think..._

In the midst of her thoughts, she squealed as she felt a pair of arms grab her from the waist, lift her in the air and spin her around.

"Nick, let go!" Judy laughed.

Nick eventually let her go and Judy turned to see the most radiant smile she'd ever seen on him. She ran her paws through her ears and smoothed them out, not taking her eyes off him and not realizing that she mimicked his own smile.

Not knowing that the gesture alone nearly paralyzed Nick.

"So, I take it that the meeting with the dad went well?" Judy asked slyly.

Nick pretended it was no big deal, putting his hands in his green coat pocket and shrugging, "Eh, it went okay..."

Which was obviously a lie, causing Judy to grin and poke him, "It was a best-case scenario, wasn't it?"

The nonchalance on Nick's face began to fade away, instead his smile began to resurface despite his own personal objections, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"...And it was spectacular and now you feel amazing and happy and you don't wanna admit it because that would prove all this time that you were being a dumb fox and you can't stand the idea of telling a sly bunny she was right all along? Right?" Judy kept on poking him and everytime she did, his smile got harder to hide until he finally broke down.

"Okay, yes, fine, you were completely right, hundred percent." Nick conceded, causing Judy to squeal and wrap her arms around him. The act was completely dropped and Nick could no longer contain his excitement.

"He's great, he's smart, he's amazing, so what can I say? I guess that sort of thing really does run in the family." Nick smirked.

But Judy could see that behind that joking tone, there was a part of Nick that beamed with pride and wanted to brag about his dad and talk about him as much as he can, like some kind of giddy child who had just met his hero.

And if he wanted it, then Judy would give him that opportunity. "Really? How so?"

Of course, this set Nick to a seemingly never-ending tirade of exactly why his dad was the best. Instead of eating, they opted for take out and ate their food on the way, though Nick seemed to inhale his food and instantly began talking about his father. It seemed that his dad accomplished everything Nick could have had he had the same opportunities. Yesterday, the thought of Felix Reynard invoked a deep-seeded hate that seemed to grow stronger the more Nick thought about it. To him, he was probably nothing but a deadbeat coward. Now, it almost seemed like Felix could do no wrong.

In hindsight, that should have been Judy's first clue that something had been wrong. Nick had spoken about Felix not as if he were a father who made mistakes, but as if he were some kind of mythical creature. It didn't help that Nick always did have a flair with his words, knowing just when to dramatize or to tone down. It got up to the point where he even convinced Judy that Felix was probably a great mammal.

But the truth? It wasn't so much Felix that made Judy so giddy and happy, but how giddy and happy it made Nick just to talk about him. In fact, Judy can't remember when she's ever seen Nick this excited about something. He barely held back, not like he usually does. He looked so carefree and excited, which was a combination she's only really seen a handful of times: his first day on the force, the first time he and Wendy spent Christmas with the Hopps family, whenever one of them would celebrate their birthdays, whenever they just solved a major case that everyone previously said was unsolvable...Of course, Nick hadn't noticed it, but if he had just looked at the soft smile Judy gave as she listened or the attentive, hopeful eyes glued to him with every word he said, he might have had more than one reason to be so happy tonight.

"-and apparently, he's also a musician, can you believe that? I mean, my mom always used to say that my guitar skills came from my dad, but I always thought she was bluffing but it turns out that my dad's side of the family have always been musicians in some way." Nick said, chipper at this new information, "It's just so weird, you know? I never knew my father and suddenly, it's like everything about me can be explained through him! Why I like blueberries so much, why green's my favorite color, why I can't stand clowns..."

"What's wrong with clowns?" Judy asked, taking a final bite of her food before throwing it in the nearest trash can.

"Turns out, we both have a mutual dislike for them." Nick cringed.

Judy laughed at the face he was making, rubbing her slightly cold paws together and twirled. Her belly full of warm food, her cheeks flushed red under her fur and a sudden urge to dance rushed through her.

"Nick, can you believe how great this is? Yesterday, all you could think about was how meeting your father would be a disaster, now you're probably thinking it's the best decision you've ever made!" Judy exclaimed, not even able to express just how happy she was for her partner.

"Well, third best decision I ever made." Nick corrected, then with a sly grin, he bent down until his face was close with hers, "The first was deciding to be there for a little bunny who thought she was in this on her own and the second is letting said bunny into talking me into becoming a cop."

Judy laughed, pushing him away teasingly as she always did when he got so close, mainly because she had this irrational fear of him seeing how red she got under her fur. But instead of her pushing him away as she always did, he had grabbed her paw and pulled her forward towards a band of mammals who were gleefully playing a jazz song that had half of the mammals listening clapping along and the other half dancing in the small clearing they made before the band.

Nick decided to drag her into the dance circle and Judy couldn't help the mass of laughter that escaped her when he took her other paw and began dancing. Well, by dancing, she meant that they were really just jumping around like a bunch of drunken idiots holding paws.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Judy asked loudly over the music.

"I know you, Carrots. When you twirl while you walk, you always wanna dance!" Nick answered, letting go of her one paw and letting her twirl again. He loved to see her twirl, the way she always closed her eyes and gave the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her, how her coats or scarves would always widen and dance like a dress around her. She never cared what other mammals thought about her and her dancing was no exception: it was obvious that she was just there to laugh and have fun and just live in the moment.

Nick had done this sort of thing often, too, when he was in a good mood or he just felt like having an excuse to hold Judy's paw for a moment. For a moment, he could pretend that they weren't just friends acting silly. For a moment, he could pretend that they lived in a world where no one would judge them if they were more...

As for Judy, there was just something about these moments in the Nocturnal District that made her feel like she was in a dream. For those brief moments, she was carefree. The ground felt like soft clouds and she felt lighter than air. They'd always mocked how rough and tough she was and Judy never did mind that. She would never trade who she was for anything, but it felt nice to feel the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders from time to time.

Little did they know, it showed. As the band watched the little bunny on the tip of her toes and and the fox who looked at her like she was bigger than the universe itself, they all gave each other sly looks and their instruments somehow sang louder, their hearts put more warmth into their playing, all this because they were inspired by the two in front of them.

And before they knew it, other couples began to join in, but neither Nick nor Judy ever noticed anyone but each other.

At some point, their faces had been close to each other and Judy couldn't help but give him the odd combination of a playful glare, "You better not dip me like you did the last time."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Carrots..." Nick said innocently.

But eventually, the song slowed down and was reaching its end. Always a fan of impressing others, Nick pulled Judy's waist closer and dipped her as the last few notes played, her ears almost tickling the ground and her nose twitching in protest, trying very hard to look mad with her furrowed eyebrows but the smile on her face betrayed her.

"Last time, I dipped you with the left paw, this time I did it with the right. I didn't do it like last time." he reasoned with a grin.

"Clever fox." Judy muttered as he pulled her back up and let her go.

"Dumb bunny." Nick smirked. And it was only at that moment that they had both realized that a group had formed around them, clapping. Whether it was at the band or at them was another question, but as he looked behind Judy, he noticed that even the band had been clapping, the lead saxophone player in front giving him a grin.¨

Thankfully for him, Judy didn't notice, too busy letting out a dreamy sigh, feeling warmer and cozier after that dance. Nick began to walk, his eyes still on the crowd behind them, then going back and forth to the dazed Judy, who had begun to casually walk away, too, blissfully unaware of the romantic thoughts of the mammals behind her.

She walked in a dreamland, a little high from the euphoria of the dancing and music and excitement and energy of everyone around her. So, they walked in comfortable silence towards Nick's place. Their warm bodies turned cooler as time went by and the air went from cold to a cool crisp. Against their better judgement, they even briefly stopped by a stand that sold fried ice cream, and when they walked around again.

 _Dinner, dancing, dessert, then later she's sleeping over at your place...how is this not a date?_

"So, when are you gonna see your dad again?" Judy asked.

"Tomorrow, actually." Nick replied and Judy would be lying if she said that that answer didn't shock her. Granted, Nick was probably running on his happiness rather than his usual logic, but she would have thought that he would proceed more carefully.

 _'Well, good for him, I guess...'_ Judy thought skeptically.

"He invited me to come over and check out his research facility in Animalia." Nick explained.

"I thought the only way you could access Animalia was either by working there or by being one of those tourists with those tickets they have to pay for, an even then those tickets are only available on Wednesdays?" Judy asked.

Nick shook his head, "Well, yeah, but Felix is giving me a 'special' tour. You know, after hours."

"He's giving you an unauthorized tour?" Judy chastised a bit, "And so late, too? We have work the next day!"

"Aw, come on, Carrots, I've never been to a 'take your son to work' day!" Nick joked in an innocent, childish voice.

Judy rolled her eyes, but the smile was there, "Well, I _guess_ I can pretend that I didn't hear anything...but only if you promise that you'll still be up bright and early on Monday _and_ I get to meet him one day!"

Nick blinked at her. Of _course_ he would introduce Judy to his dad! What made her think otherwise?

Oh, well, either way, this did present an opportunity for a Classic Wilde moment.

"Trying to meet the parents, huh? I don't know, Carrots, we're moving awfully fast..." he said in a ridiculous nervous voice.

Once upon a time, comments like these had Judy stammering and turning red. But because Judy had gotten used to his little taunts, she always gave as good as she got. "What are you talking about, _honey_ , this is a date, isn't it?"

That only caused Nick to choke on his ice cream for a split second. Judy couldn't help but laugh at his reaction and the way his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. Of course, she didn't know that the reason that comment caught him off-guard was because some wishful, stupid part of him had been _pretending_ that they were on a date this whole time. But she didn't need to know that.

They walked a bit further and eventually, they crossed one of the many infamous small, but beautifully curved bridges the Nocturnal District had and lingered there for a while. The music from main street had been a faint whisper in the background from this far, but neither of them really minded. Their eyes were compelled by the calm waters that flowed under the bridge. They saw the reflection of the replicated moon above them, as well as several fireflies that seemed to dance with each other, and even themselves, leaning against the bridge.

"You know, I think Felix would like you." Nick said, eyes still gazing at the waters below.

Judy's ears perked up, "Really?"

Nick nodded, then chuckled, "I did sorta talk about you. I told him I wasn't sure about coming, but a friend had changed my mind."

"Oh? And what did he say?"

Nick flushed, remembering how the thought of Judy had been the reason that he demanded an explanation for his leaving.

As he replayed the conversation in his head, it hit him that he had been so angry with him. Did he have a good reason? Maybe so, but that didn't make the pain any less real. The only difference was that instead of blaming him and being angry with him, Nick just felt...well, _sad_ about what could have been.

His ears began to fall and suddenly, Judy was worried she had said something bad. "Nick?"

His eyes wandered to hers and he knew that was a mistake. She'd always look at him with those large, gorgeous violet eyes that revealed everything she ever felt no matter what. It was nothing like his eyes, which somehow managed to hide whatever he wanted if need be. Her eyes had always been so warm, so inviting and trusting. No wonder she was weirdly good at interrogation. Those eyes could make you say anything, even reveal the very worst of yourself and somehow, she'd still look at you like you were still the best.

He didn't want to tell her. Not just yet. He realized just how overly-excited he had been at the prospect of having a perfect father that he had to remember that he wasn't that. Nick figured that it would be harmless to let the kit in him gush about his dad, but right now, he had to remember that he wasn't a kit anymore, he was an adult, and he had to prepare himself for any other revelations that might make his father less perfect than he seemed.

Still, he was...cautiously optimistic, to say the least. The thought surprised him and his lips fell into a soft smile, much more muted than his previously stretched, wide smiles, but a lot more hopeful and realistic at the same time.

"You know, I really couldn't have done this without you, Carrots." Nick said. The way Judy's cheeks shower her dimples when she smiled softly, looking down, it almost looked like she was blushing and trying to hide it.

"Yeah, you could." Judy insisted and because she never doubts him and thinks more of him than he will ever think of himself, Nick knew she believed it, too.

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Oh, Carrots, what would I do without you?"

"Luckily for you, you never have to find out." Judy swore.

"I'll hold you onto that." Nick joked, but his voice held a tinge of truth in it. With the almost romantic vision he'd created in his head, he couldn't help but raise his cup of fried ice cream up like he was planning a toast and quote the very movie it reminded him of, "Here's looking at you, kid."

Judy laughed, not even believing that he's actually quoting that movie. Nevertheless, she followed his lead and clinked her cup against his, savoring this moment before they eventually walked back to his apartment, in spirits so high that they both went to sleep with hopeful dreams for what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

But for some, tomorrow would never come.

If you want the truth, Shenzi Sniffs never intended for any of this to happen. But like most things gone wrong, Shenzi never thought much about the possible consequences. No, all she knew was that some fox promised her and her brothers wealth and security and for a hyena trying to take care of two idiot brothers, that didn't seem like a bad trade.

Of course, she could have never predicted what she had gotten herself into. When they were told to sell night howlers, Shenzi had assumed it was one of those addicts getting high off it. She thought it was for recreational drugs because she was told that there had already been a vaccination for it anyway.

But she never knew what Felix Reynard planned to for it. When she met him, Felix seemed like such a nice guy. He'd given her and her brothers hot chocolate. He listened to their tales of woe and anguish and injustice. He introduced them to other mammals who have faced similar prejudices. He offered a world where they would never need to run or be afraid ever again.

Would history judge her as a villain or a victim? How could she have known? She would have never even guessed that when Howlers were combined with t-that... _monstrous substance_ that it could turn into something completely lethal, dangerous, hell, even immoral, and that was coming from _her_. Something that would make the savage effect that the Night Howlers once had sound like a dream come true. By the time she figured it out, she was terrified that they'd used it against her or Ed or Banzai.

Truth is, they still can. They could be using it on them right now...that's why Shenzi kept her mouth shut. That was the only chance she had at surviving or keeping them safe.

The cops had took her. Had her interrogated a few times. They would have brought her to prison, but they still thought she was useful, so she was contained in the precinct's cell block. Thankfully, she had yet to be interrogated by the fox and the bunny. From what she heard, they were put on some sort of investigation regarding another case. Looking back, she glared at the memory of how stupid she was for falling for the fox's tricks. But she knew their reputation and she also knew that those two were too good at getting mammals to talk. It was only a matter of time...

But being on her own does make her think. What would happen if she didn't talk? Say everything goes according to plan. Could Shenzi really live with herself knowing the part she played?

But more importantly, what's stopping Reynard from turning against her and her brothers? This plan of his...it wasn't just awful, it was _evil_. For all his talk of what was natural and unnatural, there was just something so wrong with his goals that it sent shivers down Shenzi's spine.. She once figured that it was better to be by the devil's side than to perish at his hand, but what happens when she and her brothers are no longer useful to him?

These were the thoughts that plagued Shenzi Sniffs' mind on her last night on earth.

 _How will I get through this?_

 _Can I get through this?_

 _...Do I even deserve to get through this?_

 _And if, by some miracle I did, can the world get through what he has planned for them?_

Her thoughts haunted her and she had often searched for a distraction. Luckily for her, it finally arrived in a form of a night cop probably doing a night shift.

But when she saw who it was, she groaned. Unlike the other cops, this one never seemed to react to any of her taunts. Never said a word to her, either. Never flinched when she cursed or when she flirted or when she just talked. The cop acted as if she were just an inanimate object that had to be studied in silence, so being with this cop had always felt like she was still alone.

"Oh. You again." Shenzi cringed, "You know, you've been watching me a lot but you never say anything. You sure you're not in love with me?"

Shenzi leaned on the bars of her cell, a flirtatious and even predatory grin on her face. But that immediately fell when the cop had grabbed a gun and pointed it at her.

She immediately recoiled and nearly jumped to the furthest wall from the cop, as if that would save her somehow, "Wait a second, you can't-"

"Mr. Reynard sends his regards."

 _no..._

Shenzi shook her head, putting her paws in front of her face, as if that would change anything, "No...No, no, no, no, please, you don't understand! This whole thing, it's not just about Night Howlers, there's something else and there's no limit to how far it could go!"

But for the first time, the cop's usually blank face finally gave a expression: glee. A disturbing but very real happiness that somehow made Shenzi feel like she was even more in danger.

"I already know everything. That's why I'm helping him."

The cruel laughter that omitted from the cop disgusted Shenzi. She took the jobs because she needed money. But the cop...who swore to serve and to protect, took _this_ job because Reynard's caused actually made sense. The cop was risking everything...just because some fox was good with his words.

Or perhaps Shenzi preferred to believe that the fox only manipulated mammals into joining his cause because the alternative would be to believe that there were others like Felix Reynard, and that thought scared her more.

"Please, I-I swore I wouldn't talk, I didn't tal-"

But it was too late. The trigger had been pulled and it went between Shenzi Sniffs' eyes.

It was often said that your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. But Shenzi's life was not fulfilled enough to be thought of. No, what did flash before her eyes were the questions she asked on her last night in this world. The very same questions, but this time, it was no longer about her.

 _How will they get through this?_

 _Can they get through this?_

 _Do any of them even deserve to get through this?_

 _And if, by some miracle they did, will the world ever get through what Felix Reynard has planned for them?_

* * *

AN: And that's the seventh chapter! So fun fact: originally, Judy was supposed to have a part where she directly confronts Nick about why his dad left and they originally had a heart-to-heart discussion. But I figured they had a lot of heart-to-hearts lately. Here's one where they just have fun. After all, you do need a little calm before the storm right?

Unfortunately for Shenzi, that storm came way too quickly.

Next chapter: Wildehopps on the Shenzi Sniffs case! And the quick introduction of a certain agent we all know and love. Now by now, you've probably guessed who it'll be if you're into the Zootopia fandom. I'm really excited to introduce him because as much as I love the James Bond-ish portrayal of him, I had my own idea on how I could use this particular mammal...Keep reading and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 8: Pure Imagination Part I

**Chapter Eight: Pure Imagination**

 _Come with me, then you'll be_

 _In a world of pure imagination_

 _Take a look and you'll see_

 _Into your imagination_

 _-_ 'Pure Imagination' by Gene Wilder

* * *

They say that bunnies have a lot of energy and that they generally tended to be light sleepers. Well, if that were true, then Judy had even more energy and slept even less than most bunnies who fit the stereotype did. There was something about sleeping that she wasn't a fan of. It always felt like wasting time somehow. Yes, she knew it was necessary and she never exactly deprived her body of sleep or anything, but she had this irrational fear that she might miss out on something amazing.

So, she decided to put this energy to good use and take a walk, maybe pick up breakfast for her and Nick in the meantime. It had been too hot to wear the jumper or the pants she wore yesterday, so she settled on borrowing one of Nick's shirts. Even the smallest one still looked like a dress on her, but she didn't mind much, especially when hardly any mammals came out so early in this district. The Nocturnal District didn't have a 'daytime' per se, but thanks to technology (courtesy of Animalia), they're able to mimic dawn and dusk at the very least. They tended to avoid the harsh light of afternoons or bright mornings, for the sake of the more sensitive mammals out here. Not everyone decided to accommodate their eyesight like Nick did.

Speaking of which, she wondered if Nick's dad had the same problem. Well, he probably did, but it occurred to Judy that even though she's spent a night hearing a lot about Felix Reynard, she didn't know _him_ , and the bothered her a lot more than it should. Well, he is an important part of her best friend's life. It's only natural to want to know these things, right? Especially when Nick already seems to hold him in such a high esteem.

...A little _too_ high, now that she thought about it.

Now that all the fun and excitement has left her brain, Judy was able to think of this from a more objective point of view and she realized that while Nick could only seem to talk about how great his father was, he never explained why his father had left in the first place. She guessed that it had to have been a good reason since Nick forgave him.

But was that reason one that Wendy Wilde knew? Sure, Mrs. Wilde wasn't in the best state of mind, but even before, she avoided talking to Nick about Felix. There must have been a reason. Wendy Wilde was one of the sweetest mammals ever, always talking about how much she loved roses and how proud she was of her son. If Felix's reason to leave really was forgivable, why not tell his wife? Why bother making his son hate him?

But that's what unnerved her so much. As much as she wanted Nick to be happy and yes, she knew that the whole thing was her idea in the first place, well...she didn't want him to get hurt. Not that his father will do that...or maybe he might, she didn't know. She just wished that he'd be careful. It was good for him to be optimistic but she still needed him to be reasonable and keep his feet on the ground.

Especially now with the recent cases...it was so easy to forget the sudden surge in Night Howler-involved cases when they were in Bunnyburrow. With her family, everyone excited to see them, the worst thing that could happen to anyone in that little town was if someone stole some sweets from the local bakery. It was nice, but Judy knew she would have gone insane if she stayed a bit longer. Eventually, her mind always went back to the Night Howler resurgence and as of now, Ronno Doe's kidnapping.

Something about it just didn't feel right. Clawhauser kept her updated and told her that several of her fellow officers were sent to Barker Street from time to time to monitor the family, but nothing unusual ever happened, so they were all slowly beginning to dismiss Ronno Doe's attempted kidnapping as a one-time thing. But Judy wasn't so convinced.

Why on earth would anyone kidnap a child in daytime when they're with their parents? That would suggest that they were desperate to get the child. But why let Ronno go? Surely, they knew the cops would have gotten involved. Maybe they didn't anticipate Nick and Judy to be so close to the crime scene? But still, why take the chance? What makes this fawn so important yet so expendable at the same time?

With all these thoughts jumbling her mind, Judy took a deep breath through her nose and released it, savoring the cool autumn air. She knew she shouldn't think so much about it, but she couldn't help it. The Night Howler resurgence and Ronno Doe were both very odd cases that she had to deal with. Granted, she knew Chief Bogo now wanted her attention on those Night Howlers more than the Doe case, especially since they've heard nothing odd coming out of that recently. But she wouldn't let her guard down. Not with the Howlers or with the Doe's.

And besides, after two years of being in the ZPD, Judy has learned to always expect both the best and the worst, to prepare herself. While she always silently rooted for the best, she now knew that sometimes, things might not work out the way you want them to and life just might throw you a curveball. So now, she took special care in taking precautions she once never did. She liked to think now that she was older, she was a little wiser and a little less reckless. Oh, that isn't to say she isn't completely reckless or that she wasn't completely naive, but it was an improvement.

The Night Howler resurgence initially caused fear at first, but now everyone's dismissed it as some sort of drug addiction plant. Even though the vaccination was created, Judy could never forget what those things did to good mammals. What it almost did to Nick. What it almost did to Zootopia. It was so easy not to think of what might have been: Bellweather stays in power, her plan succeeds, predators are repressed and as hated as they were during the time of Judy's parents and grandparents...What would that have meant for Nick and Judy? Would Judy have stayed as a carrot farmer, standing idly by as mammals she knew to be good suffered? And Nick...would he have even been alive had Bellweather stayed in power?

A cold shiver slid down her spine and she felt the need to hug herself, terrified of the very thought of what probably happened in another universe. Her life was so idyllic now that the thought of it being anything else was a nightmare.

As for why the Doe case effected her so much, well...she didn't know. She's always believed that everyone should be allowed to do what makes them happy as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. This included loving who you wanted to love. She can't imagine the hurdles Jane Doe and John Kingsley had to go through to be where they are now, but she respected them. Not only because Jane Doe was, after all, a survivor of an abusive relationship, but because they knew the risks yet they stood by each other's side the whole time. Call it the 'romantic' in Judy, but that was exactly the kind of relationship she wanted: teamwork, always having each other's backs, a sense of 'us against the world but we'll win because we've got each other'. It was beautiful and adventurous and everything Judy considered romantic.

But there was another part of it that did effect her more than she cared to admit...the whole interspecies relationship thing just reminded her that while some may not be against it, some may not want to go for it themselves.

Nick, for instance. While he brought it up initially, she had the feeling that he thought that John Kingsley was in the right for wanting to leave. While Judy understood John's position, she also didn't understand who wouldn't fight for something they wanted so deeply.

And that only reminded her of a more positive thing to think about: Nick apparently liked someone. The thought somehow managed to both delight her yet caused her discomfort. She wasn't sure yet if she was a vixen or not, but from the sound of their conversation, it seemed like she wasn't a vixen and Nick wasn't sure if the trouble was worth it.

Well, that's at least one problem she can solve right away: if Nick really cares about this girl, then Judy might be able to convince him that she's worth it. But that only made her think of what this could mean: Nick would be less available. Sure, Judy had other friends, but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss him.

It did make her think, though. If Nick was so busy with his love life, maybe Judy should start hers again. She was never the type of bunny who pulled a pillowcase over her head and pretended to be a bride, or the kind who thought of marriage and kids straight out of high school. Did she have urges?...Well, of course, she did, she's a _bunny_. She's never actually had the time to act on them.

Once, she thought that there was something wrong with her. She hasn't had a crush on someone who wasn't a fictional character from a book, show or movie, unless you counted that childhood crush she had on Bobby Cat from the first to the sixth grade, but now that she thinks about it, maybe she just liked the idea of having someone to 'save', to be her 'damsel-in-distress', so to speak. Even her few dates had been more out of obligation than a genuine desire for the other person.

She always thought: focus on her dreams, family and friends instead. Love will come eventually and if it didn't, well, that was fine by her. She had the love of her friends and family and that was just fine for her. But she never really did give this 'dating thing' a fair shot. She's had a few offers for dates and she knew she wasn't unattractive, but to say she just wasn't interested was an understatement: she just never really thought about it, period.

 _'Hmm...Judy Hopps dating. Now that's new.'_ Judy mused and chuckled lightly. So many new things were happening to many mammals these days: Benjamin's got a secret boyfriend (who she still hasn't met, by the way), Finnick's got a job at the Palm as a saxophone player for the jazz band (and wow, was he talented), Fru Fru recently moved with her husband and child to one of the upper class areas in Little Rodentia and now, Nick's reuniting with his father and might get a potential new girlfriend.

Well, she might as well try something new, as well.

The crisp leaves below Judy's feet always made pleasant crunching sounds that relaxed her. Her walk took her to the woods behind Nick's apartment, where the ground was painted by orange, yellow and red leaves and the trees were tall and colored like snow. She loved how peaceful and beautiful autumn could be. She silently reveled in her new resolution, finding it funny that for the first time, she was thinking about sorting her love life out. Fru Fru and Benjamin will have a field day with this. But still, she swore to herself that this wouldn't get in the way of her job whatever the cost. Which, speaking of, she might pop by the ZPD today and check in on the hyena they caught and maybe send Jane Doe an e-mail.

But her plans were quickly interrupted when her sharp ears heard a rustle in the leaves that had not been her own, nor could it have been birds since the Nocturnal District didn't have any birds.

She sprung into action, swiftly following the sound and trying not to make too much noise with her feet, which was nearly impossible, but she was confident her speed would be able to catch whatever made the noise before it fled.

To her surprise, the noise suddenly stopped. Not one sound. Still, she kept her defensive position. She had no weapons on her, but she had her own strength and wiliness. She bent her knees and tightened her fists, keeping her breath shallow and her eyes peeled.

" _Look out_!" a voice screamed from above, causing Judy to move away and whoever the voice belonged to ended up falling into a generous and lucky pile of leaves.

Judy couldn't help but cringe as she saw the small body fall. It wouldn't cause any damage, but it was still a nasty fall. The body had been hidden amongst the leaves, leaving a large lump at the trunk of a tree.

Cautiously, Judy stepped forward, with every intention of moving the leaves and seeing who it was and what were they doing here. But instead, a pare of white paws peaked out of the pile and pushed the leaves away, doing the job for her..

The curtain of leaves lifted up to reveal a...hare. A snow white hare with blue eyes and black stripes on his cheeks like a tiger's. Upside down. His ears sprawled on the ground and his legs leaning on the trunk of the tree.

"Well. I'll not be doing _that_ again." the hare claimed to no one in particular. She couldn't help but notice the fancy accent, guessing he was from the Animal Kingdom or something like that. What was he doing in Zootopia? No, what was he doing _here_ in general?

She quietly observed him as he slowly picked off the leaves from his fur. Well, he's not a threat, as far as she can tell. He had no weapons in his possession, not any that he could hide anyway. She can't imagine where he would hide weapons in those trousers, white collared shirt and black coat with a red lining on the inside, one that looked like it belonged more to a magician than a...well, she didn't even know what he was. Was he some kind of magician who got lost?

With a grace and agility of someone who had years of experience, he gracefully kicked his feet from the tree, lifted his upper body up with his paws and landed on his feet. Before she could say anything, it seemed like he had just noticed her presence and he quickly gave her an excited smile, "Oh! Hello there!..If it makes me look any better, I can assure you this sort of thing does _not_ happen very often."

Okay, so he didn't have weapons. That still didn't mean he wasn't a threat. But eventually, Judy's more caring instincts kicked in, "Sir, are you okay?"

"Never felt better, actually!" he chirped, as if he didn't fall from the sky. Her eyes briefly trailed up to see that the tree was climbable, but indeed very high, making her wonder just how far he had gone up and...well, _why_ was he climbing so early. And in such a suit. She doubted that he was out for a jog.

"Any reason you were out here climbing, er...trees?" Judy asked, using a gentler voice and careful not to scare the hare just in case he was drunk or fidgety. Oh, who was she kidding? He wasn't drunk. No drunk could preform acrobatics-style jumps and talk so articulately. But he did seem to have a lot of energy and also seemed to be a flight risk.

"That's classified. Sorry." he gave a shrug, then he burst out laughing when he saw the bunny's impatient expression.

"I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you that I was watching the beautiful sky?" he grinned. She didn't know what it was about this guy, but his friendliness was contagious. It made Judy think that he was just some guy she bumped into on the streets one day instead of...well, a guy that fell from the sky.

"In a suit?" Judy asked.

"Hey, that's not fair, I wear suits everywhere. Dates, sports, work, even home, sometimes, if I'm feeling particularly dashing. Which I often do." he winked.

Judy assessed how high that tree was in her mind. If he was high enough, he could have been trying to find or watch someone, especially since you could see the buildings close by.

"Sir, are you some kind of peeping tom because if you are-" Judy began, in her authoritative voice, which she knew was a little less impressive when she wasn't wearing a uniform or had any visible weapons on her. Still, she kept her head high and her back straight, hands on her hips and ears stretching to the sky as if to compete with the jackrabbit's obviously taller ears.

"Peeping Tom? Excuse me, Madam, I'll have you know that my mother raised me to be a perfect gentlerabbit! Well, she would have if I had one anyway." he insisted so quickly and happily that Judy barely had the time to feel sad him, but it was certainly something she'd remember, "Besides, who are you to judge? I'm not the one walking around in my walk-of-shame shirt!"

Then the little bunny turned into a furious shade of red that caused the hare himself to laugh, "This is _not_ a walk-of-shame shirt! This is my friend's shirt!"

The hare gave a knowing smile, "Ah, the old 'just a friend' trope. Been there, done that, know how it ends."

"What, so guys and girls can't be friends?" Judy asked, slightly annoyed at the repeated answer she gave to that repeated question.

"Sure they can. I just doubt _you_ are. You don't smell enough like a normal bunny." he reasoned.

Judy was about to respond, but then she realized that he was playing on her emotions to distract her. She immediately shook her head and went back to the topic. "You still didn't answer my question: What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, but even that he managed to do so elegantly that Judy found herself questioning how was that possible when the hare just had an embarrassing fall. "Could be the same as you. Lost in my thoughts. Loving nature. It's not my fault you're suddenly seeking action."

"Seeking actio-?"

"Oh, please." he interrupted her, but not unkindly. He gave a gentle smile, like the kind a parent would give to a child after he knew that the child was lying. "Your first reaction to see an injured hare was to observe me, carefully looking at what I was wearing to ensure I'm not hiding anything and even then, you keep your defensive position, your ears upright and your paws still in a fist or sometimes they ghost towards your hip, which I'm assuming is where you normally keep a weapon of some sort, probably a gun given how you curl your paw that way. And I don't know if you realize it, but you even started sniffing the air, like you were expecting to smell something. You were waiting for danger. You still are."

Speechless, Judy just stared at him with surprised eyes, causing the jackrabbit to laugh. He was so used to other mammals being surprised at him that it became a joke overtime. Truthfully, he expected her next words to be nothing but stammers and angry accusations or even denial, anything to discredit him or make herself seem tougher. What she said next was the opposite.

"And what about you?" Judy interrogated. Not angrily, not even in a way that might scare someone. Truth is...she was just curious. "You're too observant, energetic and conscious to be just another drunk who got stuck in a tree. You're too open to be a criminal, especially since you should have been afraid the moment you realized that I was used to holding guns and paw-to-paw fighting, but you're confident enough to not perceive me as a threat. Your fancy clothes suggest that you're too wealthy to be a homeless mammal, but judging from the dirt on that suit and the leaves in your uncombed fur, you've been out here all night. So you're obviously here for a reason and it's not for a nature walk."

Well, now, it was the jackrabbit's turn to be speechless. He expected her to be some kind of typical bunny who tried too hard to be tough and would be all brawn and no brains, but what do you know? The little bunny was more than just a pretty face.

"Pretty and smart. Are you _sure_ that's not a walk-of-shame shirt?" he laughed.

"Oh, enough with the shirt!" Judy exasperated.

"And now you're both irritated and amused. You bunnies really do live up to that reputation of being emotional." he mused, "Well, alright. I suppose you've put up with me long enough to know: if you must know, I was searching for something."

"Okay...?" Judy asked, "Could you be more specific?"

"I was told that the soil in the Nocturnal Districts' woods could make a particular plant grow. I was curious to see who would want to make them grow. That's all." he finished with an innocent, child-like smile.

This was how the hare knew he wasn't just dealing with anyone: a normal person would assume that a good-looking hare like him in his suit looking for plants in the forest is probably a romantic looking for flowers. Or perhaps he's looking for a medicinal herb. Or a particular plant that gives out spices he could use to cook.

Either way, they would not immediately jump to the conclusion that the bunny before him did.

"Are you...talking about Night Howlers?" she asked.

The jackrabbit's innocent smile fell. For the first time since she met him, he suddenly looked serious. His eyebrows furrowed and he stared at her with an almost frightening intensity, had Judy not seen the very same eyes gleam like a child only two seconds ago.

"What do you know about the _midnicampum holicithias_?" he asked. No, demanded, more like.

"That's classified. Sorry." she answered cheekily. She just couldn't resist giving him a taste of his own medicine.

But this suddenly became very interesting. Looking for Night Howlers here, huh? He looked too well-kept to be one of the dealers. She doubted that he was the kingpin, as whoever he was probably wouldn't go trudging around in a forest looking for them. He said earlier he was looking for the ones who would want to grow Night Howlers. Perhaps he was looking to steal the Howlers and give the current kingpin a run for his money.

Unexpectedly, which she ironically came to expect out of him, the hare's lips merely quirked into a cheeky smile, "Oh, I see what you did there...Well, if we're both on _classified missions_ , then I guess there's no harm in us looking together, now is there?"

Judy hesitated at first, but then she realized that whoever this guy was, he was after Night Howlers. Whatever his reasons, it was safer to keep him close.

"Sure, why not." she smiled, making a mental note to unclench her fists so he would trust her a little bit more.

"Well, then! No time to lose!" he clapped his hands together, offering Judy a quirky grin, "Oh, by the way, the name's Jack. Jack Savage."

"That _can't_ be your real name..." Judy insisted, "It sounds like something a kid picks out of a comic book."

"A name's just a name, cutie, it can be whatever you want it to be." Jack replied.

"Don't call me cute!" Judy protested.

"Why not? You can call me cute, if you want." Jack asked, confused at how offended she seemed but still making a note not to do it again, "Anyways, I guess you can tag along if you want. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off."

"Excuse me?" Judy exclaimed, but the rabbit had already began to stroll away, ignoring her. "Hey! Get back here!"

Jack took a look at her and gave a delighted laugh, "Ah! I knew you were looking for action!"

This may be the oddest rabbit she'd ever met. He was just so amusing and odd to her that she would rather talk to him and be his friend than to question him about what he knew. He seemed so childish and odd and moved and talked like he never felt fear or worry in his life, yet she knew he was smart. Or at the very least, perceptive. So what would a hare like him be doing in a place like this looking for Night Howlers?

 _Questions, questions, and not one of their answers is the one you're looking for._

"What's your name, by the way?" he asked.

"Judy Hopps." she said. She waited to see if the name had a reaction on him. While Judy's name was linked with the Night Howler case, in other countries, she was only named as 'the first bunny cop'. If he were from Zootopia or had been in Zootopia the time of the Howler crisis, he would surely recognize the name and would put two and two together. If he were there to find and take Howlers, then he would instantly know he was with a cop and panic.

But he did no such thing. Instead, his eyes wandered off to the less-dark sky in a way that Judy could describe as dreamy or utterly mad or both. "Oh, that's a brilliant name. Judy Hopps...like a name in a fairytale."

"And Jack Savage is like the name of a made-up comic book." Judy joked, "But I still get the feeling that you're more of a princess than I am."

"Ha! It's alright, though, I get the feeling that you're probably more of an action hero than I am anyway. Honestly, I don't get why nobody wants to be the princess. You laze around, someone does all the work for you and you still get your happy ending, don't you?" Jack shrugged.

"Well, some mammals want to earn their happy endings." Judy offered, "Besides, isn't it more interesting for the princess and the hero to earn their happy ending together? You know, make it a little less cliché than 'I'm only dating you because I saved you'? Give them time to grow and form a bond and fall in love?"

"Fair enough...you know, you remind me of someone." Jack said out loud again, thinking of her eyes. He rarely looked at her when he talk. In fact, he always seemed to have his head in the clouds. Almost like he didn't want to acknowledge the bunny beside him, or like it was difficult for him to look at her. "I knew there had to be a reason I liked you. Question, though, Judy Hopps, why are you scared?"

He spoke quickly. Whether it was intentional or not, it was quick enough to almost give Judy some kind of mental whiplash. Bunnies never tended to babble as much as Judy did. She wasn't so sure about the 'talkativeness' of hares, but she was sure that even for a hare, this Jack Savage seemed to talk quickly. It wasn't unwelcomed, though. Some said that Judy had too much energy and talked too fast or too much. It was nice to know she probably wouldn't have that problem with this mammal.

"I'm _not_ scared." the way the little bunny said it, Jack had a feeling that this was a phrase she had tell to herself and to many other mammals very often.

"Of course you're not." Jack agreed. To Judy's surprise, she didn't detect any hint of sarcasm or condescension. "You're not scare of anything! You see a random hare that falls from the sky, watching him ramble on like a madmammal and look at you, calm and even acting a little friendly. So you wanna know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think whatever _does_ scare you must be absolutely terrifying." Jack simply answered, "So again, Judy Hopps, why are you scared?"

"I told you: I'm not scared." she protested.

"Yes, you are. Maybe not of me, but of something." Jack insisted, "Or otherwise, you wouldn't have thought of the Night Howlers. Or looked for traces of them on me."

"Well, maybe we should be more afraid of the Night Howlers. I feel like we forget what damage they could have done." Judy said.

"Wise words, indeed." Jack agreed solemnly. She raised her eyebrow at this. She's known him for five minutes and already she feels like the words 'Jack' and 'solemnly' didn't fit in together.

"So are you going to keep pestering me about my feelings or are you going to do what you came here to do?" Judy asked.

"How do you know that's not what I came here to do?" Jack offered.

"Is it?" Judy challenged but the joke held behind her tone.

Well, if Jack only liked her before, he sure as hell loved her now. "Of course not, do you hear yourself? But hey, save the world, save a girl, can be the same thing sometimes. Anyway, I just realized, you're more than just scared, you're a little sad about something. You're concentrating awfully hard to keep your ears up. May I ask what?"

"I..." Judy began, fully intended on telling him she wasn't sad at all. In fact, she'd just spent one of the funnest nights she's had in weeks. She wanted to tell him that she had no reason to be sad or scared.

But then the thoughts from this morning came rushing back to her. The Howlers, the Doe's, Nick's predicament...So much wrong could come out of this and she had a bad feeling about it all. But she couldn't confront anyone on this just because she was being emotional or had suspicions.

There was something so sad in her that she had buried it far down. It almost made Jack himself sad and he was never, ever sad. One day, he decided to be happy, and so he was always happy. Anything less would be too risky. Then Jack put himself in Judy's position, thought of what it would be like to be interrogated about his sadness. He felt ashamed of himself.

"Actually, you don't have to tell me." Jack decided, "Because you're right, I'm not here to talk about your feelings, but I just thought maybe you should at least consider them. Feelings are terribly confusing and terrifying things, really. They're the same things that can make you create beautiful art or make you wipe out civilizations. That, Judy Hopps, alone is reason enough to make sure you know what you're dealing with."

Judy looked at the odd rabbit beside her and she realized that he spoke like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Her ears fell in realization. They were wise words, indeed, but Judy has come to understand that wisdom never came without experience. She didn't know this hare. One thing was for sure: whoever he was, she felt a sudden urge to help him. Benjamin once said that this was a weakness of Judy's: she would go above and beyond for her friends but maybe sometimes she went a bit too far. That one day, she'd want to help someone and they might not want her help. But for all of his liveliness, the quick, subtle phrases Jack uttered like throw-away lines gave her hints that the hare was not all he seemed to be.

Just as she was about to ask what he meant, but then an odd scent hit her. Hit them both, actually. It was sweet, yet bitter and was so... _floral._ They both gave one brief look at each other before immediately running towards the source.

"I knew it!" Jack smiled, "Come along, Hopps! This should be interesting!"

Jack and Judy ran quickly, leaving a trail of leaves in the air behind them. As the scent grew stronger, so did the fear in Judy's stomach. Who knows what they'd find? Or who they would find?

Finally, they reached an area where the scent overpowered the air and they both stopped. Judy looked around and realized she hadn't been to this part of the woods before. There laid a small pond, almost covered with fallen leaves. Just beside the pond was a fallen tree used as some kind of bench, which Judy found to be charming in a way.

She gave one powerful sniff and confirmed that the flowers were close to the pond, "It's over there..." she said.

But Jack cringed, "Water. Why did it have to be close to _water?"_

"What's wrong with water?" Judy pondered.

"What _isn't_ wrong with it?" Jack snorted. Judy would have questioned it more but then he tiptoed closer to the pond carefully. She followed his league, following the scent as it got stronger close to the outer corners of the pond. The smell emitted from something under those leaves. Jack looked at Judy and they both nodded in unison. With his paws, he counted down to three...

One...two...three!

He quickly swiped the leaves off with his feet, expecting to see the purple petals of the midnicampum holicithias. Instead, there was nothing but a bunch of bell-shaped, snow-white flowers. Nothing unordinary. Common flowers around the Nocturnal District's woods.

Jack looked at it, confused, "Flowers?"

"Aw, these aren't Night Howlers." Judy pouted, a bit disappointed, treading closer to the flowers, leaning down and taking a closer look until Jack was behind her, "These are just ordinary forest flowers. Not an expert, though they don't grow on the surface. But they're nothing, they're just-"

Judy turned to see Jack, but to her surprise, he had just...disappeared.

"Mr. Savage? Mr. Savage!" Judy called out, "Jack?"

But he never showed up. He just left her hanging. The only thing that proved that he was with her were the pawprints he left as he ran away.

"Hey!" Judy protested, immediately running after the pawprints. But before she knew it, she was running out of the woods and the pawprints disappeared. She was surrounded by buildings again and she could even spot Nick's apartment.

"I...What just happened?!" Judy asked to no one in particular.

Again. So not helping with the 'crazy' rumors.

* * *

Nick woke up after a dreamless sleep. He wasn't usually a morning person, always feeling groggy and half-asleep until after that first cup of coffee. Today, however, he found himself stretching his arms with a smile on his face and energy that never seemed to leave after last night's events. In a temporary moment of panic, he realized that Judy wasn't beside him, but he figured she just went for her usual morning walk, since she did have a tendency of waking up in an ungodly hour.

For a while, he wondered if yesterday had just been a dream, a very cruel one. But then the wonderful realization came along that it wasn't. Everything was real. He was Officer Nick Wilde. He had friends, family, somebody to love and now a father. No matter how many times he told it to himself, a part of him just couldn't believe it.

He heard keys opening his locked door, so he got a move on and burst out of his bed without a single problem. He didn't seem tired at all.

The first thing he saw when he peered into the living room was Judy in _his_ shirt, one that was too small for him now, holding two pairs of smoothies with one paw and holding her keys in another.

"Hey! You're up! This is early for you." Judy said, putting the keys down and handing him the blueberry smoothie while she kept her carrot strawberry smoothie.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" Nick asked as he slurped down that cold, icy drink that quickly soothed his dry mouth.

"Not nearly enough." Judy answered cheekily, "You know, I just had the strangest morning..."

Nick raised his eyebrow, curious to hear the story. He and Judy both sat on his couch and he listened as Judy told an almost fantastic tale about some jackrabbit who apparently was a magician, maybe, appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. She talked about how lively and animated he was, yet how he obviously wasn't just a dumb rabbit. Still, the way she talked about it, in the woods at dawn, a mysterious hare that falls from the sky and the sudden disappearing act, if he didn't know any better, he'd think that she was telling him a fairytale.

"Hmm...Carrots, what ice cream flavor did you take last night?" Nick asked, then laughed when he saw Judy's annoyed expression.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me!" she pouted, crossing her arms and scrunching her nose.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, you know I believe you." Nick said, "Maybe we should still keep an eye on him...Looking for Night Howlers in the middle of the night is pretty suspicious."

"Yeah, but I doubt he's a criminal, but I also doubt he's just an ordinary civillian.. He was looking for Night Howlers, though. I still think we should check his file out. Or check if he has Muzzlebook or something." Judy said.

"Why? So you can friend him?" Nick teased.

"Well, yeah, and see if he's not some nutjob." Judy reasoned.

"Hmm. Makes sense. It's weird, though. I know everybody who's anybody in Zootopia. Never heard of a Jack Savage, though." Nick admitted.

"You're slipping, Slick." Judy shook her head in mocked disappointment.

"Excuse me, I am not slipping, I have just been a little busy. Besides, as long as this guy didn't hurt you or anything, I think he's harmless. Maybe he's just a wannabe cop." Nick offered.

"I don't think so...any wannabe cop would recognize my name especially if he was looking for Night Howlers, but he didn't. But he didn't seem to want to hurt me in any way. In fact, he was weirdly curious about...Never mind. You know what? That reminds me. I need to talk to you about something." she said, her ears drooping a bit as she remembered the conversation topic.

"Sounds serious. What's up?" Nick asked.

"Well...Okay, I don't know how to say this so I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: I know you're happy and excited and you have no idea how glad I am to see you this way." she began.

Nick nodded slowly, anticipating more, "But...?"

"But I'm kind of worried that you're _so_ happy that you may not see the big picture..." Judy finally said. Then when she looked at Nick's surprised eyes, she panicked and thought he was going to be mad at her or worst: realize that she's right and go on the other extreme and be sad about it. So, she began to babble. "I' mean, not that you're so dumb you wouldn't be able to see it, it's just-you know, it's like-do you remember when Finnick dragged us to that Batmammal vs Supermammal movie and he was all excited because he's been reading the comics since he was a kit, so when we went to watch it, we hated it but Finnick's been looking forward to it for so long and so much that he refused to admit that it was flawed in any way? It's kinda like that, except I'm not saying your dad is as bad as the movie, I'm just saying that maybe-"

Nick put his paws on her shoulders and quickly stared into her eyes, "Judy, hey, slow down...deep breaths, it's fine. I'm not mad or anything, I swear."

Judy took a deep breath as requested and all panic left her and she found her words making more sense in her brain again. "It's not you being mad I'm worried about...I don't want you to lose hope. It's great that you're having fun and that everything's going well, but I just don't want you to put your dad on a pedestal so high that it'll hurt twice as much if he ever falls. Remember, he's a mammal who will make mistakes. You never even told me why he left in the first place."

That much was true, he didn't. Well, he supposed that Judy thinking this way was fair given how he just focused on the positives yesterday night. But if he told her the story, maybe she would understand why he thought he was a little harsh on Felix.

"It's not like he had a choice then, Carrots..." Nick started before telling her the whole story: from the Lemming Brothers crash to the desperate mammals making bad choices to the end, when those bad choices eventually became their downfall. All the while, Judy had listened, thinking of how horrible it must have been. She had studied the Lemming Brothers crash and she knew how good mammals were forced to do bad things. It didn't effect her family, as far as she knew, but to know that it cost her best friend his dad was just heart-breaking.

"Poor Felix..." Judy breathed. She didn't think she would be capable of making such a sacrifice. Then again, how could she ever know she could have been capable of? She was not a fox living in hard times. She suddenly felt guilty for suspecting Felix or even judging him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's okay. I thought the same, too." Nick explained, "But look, Judy, I know you're just looking out for me, but really, I'm fine. Come on, I'm a big, bad fox, I can take care of myself."

Judy smiled at his stupid attempt to show-off and look bad, but she appreciated it because she knew it was also to make her feel a little better. "You're about as bad as a box of kittens, Officer Wilde."

"Don't joke, some of those kittens are ruthless with those claws." Nick said. "But seriously, I swear, I'll be fine. My dad's a nice guy who just happened to have had some bad stuff happen to him. It's okay. I'm okay."

Maybe so, but Judy still had her doubts. Maybe Nick thought he was still being reasonable, but something about the starstruck eyes he wore yesterday made her doubt it a little. She didn't doubt Nick would _try_ to be more objective, but at the end of the day, sometimes, even the most logical person can fall victim to their emotions. She was just so afraid that this could destroy Nick.

But then, she thought about how it would destroy him even more if she didn't support him. So, Judy decided to believe him and give Felix Reynard the benefit of the doubt. His story was undoubtedly heartbreaking, yet something about all this just didn't seem right. It all seemed too perfect, too la la land. Like something out of a drama movie. All that was left is Nick and Felix laughing together during a cheesy montage of their bonding activities. Still, it wouldn't do any good to argue about this. Not now. A close eye on Felix is what she'll need to do.

Besides, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right? Nick was wonderful on his own, so how bad could his father really be?

"Well...I suppose if he is your dad, he might not be that bad." Judy reasoned.

Nick smiled. In all honesty, it touched him deeply that Judy was so concerned for him. That little bunny would do anything for him, even if it hurt her. Not that he would let her, anyway. But the fact that she cared so much reminded Nick that regardless of anything, he was loved at the very least. When it comes down to it, that's all that really mattered. "Tell you what: if he does hurt me, I'll let you do that scary bunny thing you did to me and Finnick back at Budapets."

Judy laughed at the memory, "Deal!"

And with that, Judy decided that it was probably time to get home in time for her parents' almost daily lunchtime call. She hopped off the couch and made her way to Nick's room. As Nick stared at her wearing his shirt, he couldn't resist teasing her just a little bit.

"So, about that walk-of-shame shirt..." Nick smirked, right before a pillow was thrown at his face.

* * *

AN: I am not gonna lie, that Jack Savage part was _really_ fun to write! I mean, originally I made him out like the typical James Bond!Jack which, don't get me wrong, can also be fun. But I always thought that if a third party HAD to be added in the Wildehopps team, I wanted it to be a dynamic that reminded me of the Eleventh Doctor and the Ponds from Doctor Who. Even Jack's clothes were inspired by the appearance of the Twelfth Doctor. And I did need Jack in the story for a reason, so the solution? Give Jack Savage a completely different personality! Technically, even James Bond!Jack isn't canon (at least as of September 2016), so I figure why not? So no, sadly there won't be any love triangle because I am actually horrendous at writing those. Of course, there's going to be jealousy on Nick's part, because, well, he's Nick.

OK, so originally, this was supposed to include the Animalia chapter, but it was running a little long, so I decided to make it into a two-parter. The next chapter should be up pretty soon and this'll focus on Animalia which I'm very excited to write about so keep on reading and let me know what you think of Jack!


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